Writing the Cover Letter

Once the manuscript is ready for submission, it is time to write the cover letter.  The cover letter is a critical piece that introduces your manuscript to the editor and the reviewers.  The cover letter will help the editors understand the significance of your work and should include a statement as to why you have chosen to submit your article to that particular journal.  The cover letter is really matter of making a good first impression and therefore, time should be taken to draft a quality letter. The following video provides an overview of the importance of the cover letter, as well as tips on how to write an effective letter.

Click here for more tips and to see a sample cover letter:  Writing a Cover Letter

Next Steps

Once your manuscript is ready to be submitted, it is important that you understand the how the review process works and what will happen next.  The following list provides additional information regarding the steps of the review process and editor feedback.

Initial Screen – During the initial screening, the editor will review the manuscript to determine whether or not it should go on to the reviewers. Editors typically ask the follow questions:

• Does the manuscript fit the scope and aim of the journal? Will it be of interest to the journal’s readers?
• Is the manuscript of acceptable quality in terms of writing, formatting, etc..
• Does the manuscript comply with journal’s requirements?

Editors will begin by reading the cover letter carefully.  As discussed in previous modules, the cover letter is critical for this reason.  The cover letter should highlight the significance of the research and describe why the manuscript is a good fit for the journal.  The editor will also likely read the abstract carefully and skim the rest of the manuscript before making a decision. If the editor finds that the manuscript is not a suitable fit or of sufficient quality, it may be rejected outright.  This is referred to as “desk rejection”.   If it clears the initial screening, the manuscript will be sent on for peer review.

Peer Review – During the peer review, the manuscript will be thoroughly evaluated by typically 2-6 reviewers.  The peer reviewers are experts in the field that will be able to evaluate and provide feedback on the research, the presentation of the findings in the manuscript, the quality of the writing, and many other aspects. Each reviewer will submit their comments to the editor.  Depending on the journal and the discipline, the process may take 30-90 days.

Final Decisions & Feedback – The editor will arrive at a final decision after carefully considering the feedback from the reviewers.  Responses may vary a bit from journal to journal, however, following is a list of common responses you may receive from the editor:

• Accept without changes – The journal will accept the manuscript as submitted. This is very rare.
• Accept with minor revisions – The journal has accepted the manuscript but is asking the author to make minor corrections.
• Accept after major revisions – This is conditional acceptance where the journal agrees to publish the paper if the author makes larger changes requested by the reviewers.
• Revise and Re-submit (R & R) – This is a conditional rejection. The journal is essentially stating that with the major revisions they are suggesting, they would consider the paper at a later time in a new round of submissions.  This is not a guarantee of publication at a later date, but leaves the door open for the author to make revisions and submit again.
• Rejection – Also called an outright rejection, the journal will not publish the paper and will not reconsider it even with major changes.

 The following Slideshare presentation, Getting Your Manuscript Published: What Reviewers and Editors Want, provides further insight into the publication process and the perspectives of reviewers and editors.

For a detailed, step-by-step look at the entire process, Publish, Not Perish, is an excellent online resource that contains a series of modules providing additional details and information.