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Mastering The Art of The Cover Letter - ACS Axial

This document discusses the importance of a strong cover letter when submitting a scientific manuscript for publication. While the submission process is now digital, a cover letter remains an effective tool to explain the significance of the research and why it should be published. The cover letter gives editors valuable insights about why the work is important and interesting for readers, which can influence whether the manuscript proceeds to peer review. A good cover letter concisely addresses the importance of the findings, their broader impacts, who might be interested in the research, and any prior encouragement from editors.

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310 views2 pages

Mastering The Art of The Cover Letter - ACS Axial

This document discusses the importance of a strong cover letter when submitting a scientific manuscript for publication. While the submission process is now digital, a cover letter remains an effective tool to explain the significance of the research and why it should be published. The cover letter gives editors valuable insights about why the work is important and interesting for readers, which can influence whether the manuscript proceeds to peer review. A good cover letter concisely addresses the importance of the findings, their broader impacts, who might be interested in the research, and any prior encouragement from editors.

Uploaded by

ahmedsidala
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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3/17/2017 MasteringtheArtoftheCoverLetter|ACSAxial:YourBondWithChemistryResearch

ThiseditorialoriginallyappearedinTheJournalofProteomeResearch.

Publishingistheprincipalmeansbywhichscientificfindingsarecommunicatedandconfirmedtothebroadercommunity.AsIhalf
jokinglyremindmylab,Ifitisntpublished,itdoesntexist.Amongthemanystepsinthepathtopublication,ifyouarelikemost
authors,thecoverletteristhelaststepintheprocessand,unfortunately,oftenthemostrushedandoverlooked.Authorswho
underestimatethevalueofastrongcoverletteroftensquanderanopportunitytodelineatethevalueoftheirwork,whichcansometimes
determinewhetheramanuscriptisevensentforpeerreview.Beforedigitalsubmissionofmanuscriptsbecamethenorm,thecover
letterwasattachedtothefrontofthemanuscriptsothatitwasthefirstdocumentaneditorwouldread.Atypicallettermightincludethe
titleofthepaper,verificationthatithasbeensubmittedtoonlythisjournal,suggestionsofappropriatereviewersforthepaper,and,
mostimportantly,informationabouttheimportanceoftheworkanditsrelevancetothereadershipofthejournal.Sincemuchofthe
operationalinformationisnowprovidedthroughcheckboxesandotherformsinthedigitalsubmissionprocess,authorsnolongerfeel
compelledtodescribethework,makingthecoverlettermoreofanafterthoughtoraplacewherepeoplereiteratetheinformation
alreadyprovidedinthesubmissionprocess.

Evenintheageofdigitalsubmissions,agoodcoverletterisaneffectivetool,andthebestletterswilluseplainlanguagetoexplainwhy
theworkisimportant,whyitwillinterestthereadersofthejournal,andthuswhyitshouldbepublished.Thecoverletterisagolden
opportunitytosellthescienceinyourpapertotheeditorshandlingthepaper.Suchclearlystatedlettersareinvaluabletoeditorswho
havethedifficulttaskofdecidingwhetherornotthepaperisappropriateforthejournal.Withoutinformationfromtheauthors,wemust
relyonreviewers,whomayormaynotbegoodatidentifyingthesignificanceofthework,andwhenreviewersfocusontechnicalissues
inamanuscriptratherthanthescientificvalueofthefindings,theevaluationofsignificancefallstotheeditorsalone.Whiletechnical
qualityorclarityinapapercanoftenbeimprovedinrevision,significanceishardtoimprovewithoutadditionalexperimentsand
insightsinessence,itisthereornot.Sincethereisanelementofintheeyeofthebeholderastothesignificanceofresearch,it
behoovesauthorstoclearlyspellitout.Withouttheguidanceoftheauthors,aneditormightnotappreciatetheimportantadvances
offeredbyapaper.Evenifthesignificanceissubtle,thepapermaybeworthpublishing,butwithouttheinsightsprovidedinacover
letter,editorsmightmissthosepoints.Weallhavestoriesaboutapaperthatshouldhavebreezedthroughpeerreviewbutfailed
becauseitdidnotresonatewithreviewersortheresearchwastoofaraheadofitstimetobeappreciated.Mymosthighlycitedpaper
wasrejectedthreetimes.Thereviewprocessisnotinfallible,andwhilewestrivetobefairandbelievetheprocesstobeasobjectiveas
possible,thereis,attimes,someinescapablesubjectivity.Awellcraftedandinformativecoverlettercanhelptheeditor(s)beaswell
informedabouttheresearchanditssignificanceaspossible,andthusifreviewersmissthesignificanceofthework,thenwecantake
stepstomakesureimportantpointsgetnoticed.

Tosumup,yourcoverlettershouldbeconciseandshouldaddress:

1.Whyistheworkimportant?

1.Doesitmakeanimportantprocessfaster,moresensitive?

2.Canyouuncovernewinformationthatcouldnotbemeasuredbefore?

3.Didyoudiscoversomethingnewaboutabiologicalprocess?

http://axial.acs.org/2017/02/09/masteringartcoverletter/ 1/2
3/17/2017 MasteringtheArtoftheCoverLetter|ACSAxial:YourBondWithChemistryResearch

4.Haveyouvalidatedandverifiedthefinding?

2.Whatarethebroaderimpactsoftheresearch?

3.Whomightbeinterestedintheresearch?

4.Ifyouhavetalkedtoaneditorandwereencouragedtosubmit,thenstatethis.

Ifyouhavetalkedtoaneditorandwereencouragedtosubmit,thenstatethis.

Byprovidingaclearlywrittenandconcisecoverletter,youcangiveyourmanuscriptthebestpossiblechanceforpublication.

Ifyouhavecommentsorquestionsfortheauthorofthispost,pleaseemail:[email protected].

http://axial.acs.org/2017/02/09/masteringartcoverletter/ 2/2

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