Cover Letter to Journal Editor?

[rockbender]

Hey all,

 

I am about to submit my FIRST PAPER EVER (so exciting!) in the next week or so. My advisor wanted to see a copy of my cover letter to the editor, but I have no clue what/how to write this letter!

 

I know it is very important and should basically say things like

"Here is my paper blah blah blah"

"I'm not sending this to anyone else"

"Please publish!!!!"

 

Howeber I am not the greatest at writing charming, persuasive letters/emails... Does anyone have any advice or resources that could help steer me in the right direction? E.G. how long is it supposed to be, how detailed it should be, etc etc? I usually check out FemaleScienceProf's blog for these kinds of things, but I didn't see anything about journal cover letters there...

 

Thanks!

[fuzzylogician]

I recently submitted a paper with a cover letter like the following (content anonymized):

 

 

Date

 

Dear Professor Editor,

 

We are submitting our paper, “title” for consideration by your journal, Journal.

[A very brief description of the content of the paper - about 2-3 sentences]

We assert that the manuscript has not been submitted elsewhere for review or publication, and we will not do so before receiving a reply from Journal.

 

                                                                        Sincerely,

                                                                        Author A and Author B

[rockbender]

Ok, wow, much shorter than I was thinking. Thanks fuzzylogician!