Free tool · Writing & publishing
Journal cover letter generator
A clean, editable submission cover letter built from the facts you type in.
This generator takes the facts of your manuscript and makes a clear, conventional cover letter for journal submission. After that you can edit the letter, copy it or download it as a Word file. You only have to type the journal, the title, the article type, your main finding and why this journal suits your paper. Editors are used to one fixed order of points. Our tool sticks to that order, and the usual declarations it puts in on its own. Every claim, number and reason in the letter comes from what you typed.
Many first-time authors skip the letter fully, or they simply paste the abstract into it. Neither of these helps. What did you find, and why should this journal print it? Answer those two and the editor has a reason to send the paper for review.
Method
How this tool works
The letter follows the structure that most publishers give in their author guides. Our guide to writing a journal cover letter explains it paragraph by paragraph. Today’s date goes at the top, and under it the greeting with the editor’s name after “Dear”. If the editor is unknown, leave that box empty and the letter says “Dear Editor”. Then the letter has five parts.
- The submission request. One sentence requesting the editor to consider your manuscript, giving its title, the article type and the journal. Every journal names its article types in its own way (“research paper”, “original article”, “full-length article”). So change this wording as per the journal’s own list.
- The main finding. After the words “In this study, we found that…” the tool pastes in what you wrote in the finding box. If you gave a sentence on what is new, that comes right after. Write the result here and not the topic, and give a number wherever you have one. “Trust predicts adoption” is a finding, whereas “We studied adoption” is not.
- Why this journal. Here the wording is “We believe the manuscript suits [journal] because…”, and your reason follows. Editors most often find the reason for choosing the journal missing. Mention a theme the journal keeps coming back to, or one recent article in that journal which your paper is extending.
- The declarations. Here the letter states that the work is not published and is not under consideration anywhere else. The line about all authors approving comes in only if you kept that box ticked. Next it gives the conflicts of interest, or a line saying there are none. Your funding comes after that, if you entered it. The ICMJE Recommendations list the same kinds of statement for a submission letter, that is conflicts of interest, approval by all authors and a named contact author. Tick the boxes only when they are true for your paper.
- Contact details. One thank-you line, and below it your name, affiliation and email as corresponding author. If the journal asks for your ORCID, type it in by hand.
If a required box is empty, the tool points to that box instead of giving a half-finished letter. All this happens in your browser itself and we never receive what you typed. We count only that the tool was used, same as we do for every tool. “Download as Word” makes a .docx file on your own device using the open-source docx library. If that library does not load, you get a plain .txt file instead.
Take the result as first draft only. Put it on the department letterhead if your university expects that. Read it aloud one time and rewrite any sentence which doesn’t sound like you.
Limits
What this tool can’t do
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Do editors read cover letters?
Many editors do, mainly at the first screening, where they decide if the paper goes for review. Practice differs between journals, and in some submission systems a form takes the place of the letter. Where a letter is asked, though, two things catch the editor’s eye quickly. First is a missing reason for choosing the journal. Second is a previous journal’s name left in by mistake.
How long should a cover letter be?
Keep it to one page. Three or four short paragraphs plus the declarations is enough. When your letter goes longer than that, most probably the main finding is not stated sharply yet. Go back and sharpen that one sentence, extra paragraphs only make it longer.
Should I suggest reviewers?
Suggest them only if the journal asks for them, or when its submission system gives a place for them. Springer Nature, for example, allows authors to recommend or exclude reviewers and give reasons. Pick experts in your area with no conflict of interest, so not your supervisor, co-authors or recent collaborators.
Is a template letter a problem?
No, a standard layout is fine and we kept it conventional purposely. What irritates editors is a letter with nothing specific in it. The finding is vague, the reason fits any journal, sometimes even wrong journal’s name is sitting there. Since the content comes from you, the letter becomes as specific as whatever you type.
Can I reuse the letter for another journal?
You can, but change the journal name everywhere and write the “why this journal” sentence again. Check the article types and the required statements of the new journal also. After a rejection, our guide on how to choose a journal can help you pick the next one.
Is my text stored?
We don’t keep it anywhere. Your browser builds the letter on your computer and your text never reaches our server. The only thing we record is an anonymous count that the tool was used. Once you close the tab the text is cleared, so copy or download your letter before that.
Keep reading
Related guides and services
Writing a cover letter for journal submission
What editors actually read in a cover letter, a template, and a worked example.
How to choose a journal for your paper
Scope, indexing, speed and fees: a shortlisting method that avoids desk rejection and predatory journals.
Journal Manuscript Preparation
Your finished paper, formatted and checked against the target journal’s rules before a desk editor sees it.
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