successful covering letters for academic journals

92 Journal of Scholarly Publishing

Journal of Scholarly Publishing January 2004

Writing Successful Covering Lettersfor Unsolicited Submissions to

Academic Journals

STEVEN E. GUMP

Writing a covering letter is a necessary step before submitting an unsolicited

manuscript to an academic journal. In cases where the author has not queried

the editor of the target journal prior to submission, the covering letter can –

and should – be drafted to serve three functions. This article demonstrates

how a covering letter can (1) establish the author’s credibility, (2) help ensure

that the manuscript is seriously considered for publication, and (3) initiate a

positive rapport with the editor and editorial staff of the journal. In addition,

this article includes sample texts from ‘successful’ covering letters: covering

letters that, ultimately, result in having the accompanying manuscript ac-

cepted for publication.

Regardless of whether an author submits an unsolicited manuscriptin hard copy by post or electronically as an attachment, the coveringletter accompanying a submission to any academic journal has twoobvious purposes: to identify the author (or authors) and to requestthat the enclosed or attached manuscript be considered for publica-tion. Such letters, however, can do more: They provide the manu-script submitter with some vital one-time opportunities and thusshould not be taken for granted.

Unfortunately, how-to guides on publishing in journals often fail toemphasize anything beyond the surface uses for covering letters.1

While a well-crafted covering letter can by no means guarantee thatan unsolicited manuscript will be accepted for publication in an aca-demic journal, a ‘successful’ letter can, at the very least, (1) establishthe author’s credibility – especially important if he or she is a junioracademic or fledgling writer, (2) help ensure that the manuscript is,

Successful Covering Letters for Journal Submissions 93

indeed, seriously considered for publication, and (3) initiate a posi-tive rapport with the editor and/or editorial staff. A covering lettermust be included, so why not take advantage of these opportunities?This article explains why and how to craft a covering letter that ac-complishes these three goals.

Preliminaries

The decision to accept, reject, or reconsider a manuscript (after revi-sion) is, of course, almost entirely dependent on the needs of thejournal and the content and presentation of the manuscript itself; butthe covering letter should also reflect the care and attention to detailthat characterize the document it accompanies. The covering lettershould be concise, neat, and free of errors. Pay as much attention tothe covering letter for a manuscript as you would to a covering letterfor your résumé or curriculum vitae in a job application: Rememberthe value of a first impression. Such an impression is especially im-portant with a submission to an editor-only reviewed journal, wherethe editor who receives a manuscript is the one who decides whetherto accept it. (Even with a peer-reviewed journal, however, the ultimatedecision rests with the editor and/or the editorial board, not with theoutside reviewers.) Indeed, while the editorial method at the targetjournal may affect the ‘usefulness’ of the covering letter beyond thepracticalities, creating a good initial impression is still a wise move.

Before submitting a manuscript to any journal, though, you mustensure that you have targeted an appropriate venue for your work andhave abided by the submission guidelines for that particular journal.No matter how ideal a covering letter you write, if the accompanyingmanuscript is not appropriate, for any reason, it cannot be consideredpublishable, as is, by that journal. Even if a manuscript falls within theguidelines for length, consistently handles references correctly, and isotherwise properly formatted, for example, an inappropriate writingstyle – one that is inconsistent with that of material previously pub-lished in that journal – will make its chances for acceptance slim.The best advice, offered repeatedly in the literature,2 is to becomefamiliar with any journal to which you plan to submit a manuscript:Understand its intended focus, its intended audience, and its in-tended mission.3

After you have written a piece that you (and, ideally, at least one or


more objective colleagues) believe to be worthy of publication in ajournal with which you are familiar, you are ready to submit. BothKenneth Henson and William Van Til, for example, suggest precedingthe submission of any unsolicited manuscript by a letter of inquiry;4

but I agree with Abby Day and Hyman Rodman, both of whom gener-ally see such letters as an unnecessary – and, for some editors at least,an annoying – step.5 Unless journal editors specifically state that theywelcome inquiries, most would rather work with appropriate manu-scripts, not with ancillary reading and correspondence.6

In covering letters, conciseness is crucial. A covering letter for ajournal manuscript should fit nicely on a single page. (If you submit amanuscript electronically, the covering message, if printed out, shouldalso fit entirely on one sheet of paper.) The more white space, thebetter, for the manuscript should be able to speak for itself. Yet asuccessful covering letter nonetheless includes certain essentials foraccomplishing the three goals listed above: establishing your credibil-ity, increasing the manuscript’s chances for consideration, and initi-ating a positive rapport with the editor and/or the editorial staff.

Goal 1: Establishing Credibility

The covering letter is a key vehicle for establishing credibility, a con-ceptual commodity that is especially important if you are a juniorscholar or a not-yet-published writer. In a covering letter, you maypresent your affiliation and educational qualifications without pre-tension. The ‘extrinsic merits’ of education and affiliation should not– but may – prejudice an otherwise objective reading of the manu-script:7 a good thing, perhaps, when they work to an author’s advan-tage. If writing from within academe, (1) use institutional letterhead;(2) suffix your name, on the signature line, with your post-graduatedegrees; and (3) include your title or appointment (e.g., ‘GraduateResearch Assistant’ or ‘Associate Professor of History’) on the follow-ing line. If you are not writing from within academe, use the letterheadof your company, institution, or organization; suffix your name withany post-graduate degrees; and include your title. The most awkwardsituation arises if you have no association on which to rely and, thus,no institutional letterhead: In such a situation, you must establishcredibility in a different way, perhaps by stating briefly, in the body ofthe letter, why you are qualified to present the material you do in the


enclosed manuscript. Mention, for example, the number of years ofexperience you have in your field, or simply point out a previousaffiliation.

If you submit a manuscript electronically and are thus deprived ofthe opportunity to use credibility-establishing letterhead, use, if at allpossible, an email account affiliated with your place of employment.Also include your degree qualifications and title after your name.

Goal 2: Increasing Chances for Consideration

While authors who have followed the advice of Henson and Van Til,for example, and have ‘queried and received some encouragement tosubmit their manuscripts … have a right to fair consideration,’8 Rich-ard De George and Fred Woodward also argue that authors who sub-mit manuscripts ‘over the transom’ (that is, without prior contactwith an editor) also deserve fair consideration.9 Such consideration,however, is not implicit, since ‘simple submission of a manuscriptcarries with it no automatic right to review.’10 Thus a main objective ofthe covering letter is to persuade its reader to consider, seriously, theaccompanying manuscript for review.

The person who first receives a manuscript and covering lettermay, in fact, make the ultimate decision as to whether to accept thatmanuscript for publication; thus the impression made with the cover-ing letter can be of great importance. But outside readers and review-ers, if used, will not see the covering letter. In such cases, only theperson (or people) involved with recording receipt and perhaps withcarrying out the preliminary screening will see the letter, so the lettercan be thought of as a tool that, if properly used, can help ensure thatthe accompanying manuscript moves beyond the introductory stagesand enters the review stream. Six elements are key. Keeping theseelements in mind will result in a covering letter that is personalized foreach manuscript and each particular target journal. ‘Form letters,’Gary Olson warns, ‘will not be received well.’11

First, address the covering letter to the correct (current) editor. Donot misspell her name, and do not use an incorrect title. If you do notknow the editor’s title, ‘Editor’ can be used (as in, ‘Dear Editor Jones’);you do not wish to insult an editor by not realizing, for example, thathe or she has a doctorate. If a target journal does not identify itseditors by name, I recommend avoiding an impersonal ‘Dear Editor:’


salutation. Instead, use the simplified business letter format that omitsboth the salutation and the complimentary close, replacing the firstwith a ‘Subject’ line (for example, ‘Subject: Submission to the Journalof Scholarly Publishing’). Submitting manuscripts electronically asattachments makes omitting a personalized salutation easier: Simplybegin the body of the message with what would be the beginning ofthe body of the covering letter.

Second, include the manuscript’s title and the number of words inthe first sentence of the covering letter. And instead of making your-self the subject of the opening sentence (as in, ‘I have enclosed threecopies of …’), place the focus on the editor, the journal, or the manu-script itself.12 In the preferable opening, ‘Please consider the enclosedmanuscript …,’ for example, the subject is the assumed ‘you’ of theeditor; the object is the manuscript. Including the number of wordslets the editor know at a glance whether the manuscript is of an ac-ceptable length – though excessive references, notes, figures, or tablesmay complicate the conversion from word length to number of fin-ished journal pages, once prepared for printing. (Manuscript submis-sion guidelines often suggest page ranges for acceptable submissions;the editor can easily flip through a manuscript to gather this informa-tion. Especially if you use a typeface other than Times Roman orCourier, however, visually approximating the number of words is muchless straightforward – unless you have sent the manuscript electroni-cally or have included the file on an accompanying floppy diskette.Regardless, save the editor a step by stating the number of words inthe covering letter.)

Third, remind the editor that you are familiar with the journal. Youmay, for example, refer to an article that is relevant to what you havewritten (perhaps the article that provided inspiration for the currentsubmission) or make a general statement that demonstrates how thetopic of the manuscript should be of interest to readers of the journal.If you would prefer not to use such an obvious tactic, a brilliant way toinform the editor and/or reviewers of your familiarity with the journalis to use articles previously published in that journal as references.13

The added benefit of this approach, of course, is that the coveringletter (and your identity) can be removed from the submission (aswith blind readings), while the references and, thus, evidence of yourawareness of related literature previously published by the journalremain.


Fourth, include a confirmation that the manuscript is original, hasnot been previously published, and has not been submitted to anyother journal for consideration. (Professional ethics call for abiding bythese conditions – especially if stated in the covering letter.14) If true,you may also state that the manuscript was specifically written for thejournal to which you are submitting it. Such a statement reassureseditors that the manuscript will probably not need to be rejectedbecause of unawareness of the intended audience or ‘house style’(formatting preferences) of the journal and, thus, that reviewing it willnot be a waste of their time.

Fifth, incorporate your contact information (mailing address, phonenumber, fax number, and email address) if it does not appear on theletterhead or in your email signature.

Sixth, include an itemized list of enclosures. This list should showthe editor, at a glance, that you have met the requirements for howmany manuscript copies to enclose and that you have included enve-lopes, return postage, a floppy disk with your manuscript saved in anappropriate document format, and/or any other required supportingdocumentation.

Finally, note that some journals may have special requirementsthat you should specifically mention in the covering letter (which thejournal may call something else, such as a ‘letter of transmittal’). Readthe calls for submissions and notes to authors carefully and com-pletely, and make sure the covering letters reflect an accurate under-standing of the specific requirements for manuscript submission toeach journal.

Goal 3: Initiating a Positive Rapport

You can best initiate a positive rapport with the editor and/or theeditorial staff by (1) keeping the covering letter short and to the point,(2) being kind yet authoritative in your wording, (3) offering to con-sider any revisions the editor may deem necessary prior to acceptanceor publication,15 and (4) concluding with an expression of goodwill. Ifthe covering letter is succinct, the editor will know that you value histime. Kind wording, for example, emphasizes the release of the manu-script from your hands to those of the editor. Offering to consider theeditor’s suggestions demonstrates that you value her editorial opin-ions (and/or those of the outside readers), though such a statement is


optional, as most editors expect a willingness to make changes. And agoodwill closing (e.g., ‘I am looking forward to your response.’) placestrust in the editor yet reminds him that you are eagerly awaiting hisdecision.

Bodies of Sample Covering Letters

While all the considerations mentioned above may seem as if theywould result in a covering letter that exceeds the one-page limit, thebody of a successful letter, if printed on letterhead that provides yourcontact information, need only include three sentences. For example:

Please consider the enclosed manuscript, ‘Writing Successful Covering

Letters for Unsolicited Submissions to Academic Journals’ (2,867 words,

plus notes of 672 words), for an upcoming issue of the Journal of Scholarly

Publishing.

This original piece has neither been previously published nor submitted for

consideration to any other journal.

I look forward to your decision.

But you may find the above letter a bit too terse, or a bit too muchlike a form letter into which you have merely inserted the details of amanuscript in the opening sentence. Here is a more personalizedcovering letter that incorporates the above elements (and more):

Please consider the enclosed manuscript, ‘Writing Successful Covering Let-

ters for Unsolicited Submissions to Academic Journals’ (2,867 words, plus

notes of 672 words), for an upcoming issue of the Journal of Scholarly

Publishing.

The JSP seems an ideal forum for a manuscript addressing, in a how-to

format, strategies for writing effective covering letters. Indeed, this topic is not

limited to any specific discipline but is relevant to all who submit manuscripts

to scholarly journals. While I have used the second-person point of view in the

manuscript, the resulting text seems to complement the relaxed and conver-

sational tone of the many highly readable articles that have recently been

published in the JSP. I trust, therefore, that you will consider my manuscript

to be appropriate for your readership.

Following your submission guidelines, I have enclosed one paper copy of

the manuscript as well as an electronic copy on a 3.5" disk. Endnotes are in


humanities style, and my contact information and biographical note appear

on a separate page. Since this original piece was written specifically for the

JSP, it has neither been previously published nor submitted for consideration

to any other journal.

I look forward to receiving your decision.

The above letter reassures the editor that the author is familiar withthe journal and has followed the appropriate style and submissionguidelines. Thus, the author is able to write with conviction that hebelieves, at least, his manuscript is appropriate for publication. Ide-ally, the editor will agree.

Conclusion: A Persuasive Marketing Approach

Writing with conviction, of course, should not be restricted to cover-ing letters; such writing should also be apparent in the accompanyingmanuscript. Sheridan Baker reminds us of a key goal of both ourmanuscripts and covering letters – and virtually everything else wewrite: ‘You must write to persuade people of your worth … and of theworth of your ideas…. All communication is largely persuasion.’16

Such an approach may be termed a ‘marketing approach’ by JohnMunschauer, among others;17 but the covering letter is, indeed, apowerful tool for advancing any manuscript through the process ofconsideration for publication.

Before you sit down to write your next covering letter, think of apossible worst case scenario: If you were the editor of an editor-onlyreviewed journal, how would you react to a covering letter that iswordy and disorganized, is poorly formatted, is addressed to someoneelse (the previous editor, perhaps), and contains typographical orother technical errors? You would probably assume that the authorwho wrote the enclosed manuscript is long-winded, disorganized, notaware of your journal’s house style, not interested in keeping up todate with the editorial situation of your journal, and otherwise lazy,inattentive to detail, and just a poor writer. What would be on yourmind as you subsequently flip through the enclosed manuscript?Would you not want to find major problems with the document – as ifto prove your intuition, even if you know you are obligated to be ‘asobjective as possible’18 in the review?

On the other hand, think of how you would react to a concise, neat,


polite, error-free, and correctly addressed covering letter that projectsprofessionalism and attention to detail. Such are the ‘successful’ cov-ering letters described in this article: covering letters that assist inestablishing your credibility, increasing your chances for fair consid-eration, and initiating a positive rapport with the editor and her staff.While they cannot atone for a poor or unsuitable manuscript, success-ful covering letters can, indeed, help ensure success in your attemptsat getting suitable, well-written manuscripts published in academicjournals.

STEVEN E. GUMP, most recently a graduate teaching assistant in theDepartment of East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University ofIllinois, Urbana-Champaign, has previously written successful cover-ing letters to such journals as International Education, The Journal ofLanguage for International Business, and Phi Delta Kappan.

1 For example, Abby Day presents the covering letter as a mere formality:

‘Always enclose a covering letter stating your name, the title of the paper,

brief paragraph describing the contents and referring, if possible, to why

you chose the specific journal. If there has been previous correspondence

relating to a synopsis or a telephone call, refer to it and to any further

guidance from the editor which was given at that time.’ How to Get Re-

search Published in Journals (Brookfield, VT: Gower 1996): 117. Nothing

more is said on the issue.

2 Hyman Rodman, ‘Some Practical Advice for Journal Contributors,’

Scholarly Publishing 9 (1978): 235–41; W. John Harker, ‘Publishing in

Canada,’ in Stephen N. Judy, ed., Publishing in English Education

(Montclair, NJ: Boynton/Cook 1982): 112–86; William Van Til, Writing for

Professional Publication, 2nd ed. (Boston: Allyn and Bacon 1986); Day,

How to Get Research Published in Journals; Gary A. Olson, ‘Publishing

Scholarship in Humanistic Disciplines: Joining the Conversation,’ in

Joseph M. Moxley and Todd Taylor, eds., Writing and Publishing for

Academic Authors, 2nd ed. (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield 1997):

51–69; Kenneth T. Henson, Writing for Professional Publication: Keys to

Academic and Business Success (Boston: Allyn and Bacon 1999)

3 Harold S. Wechsler recommends also learning ‘the lore of a journal’ by

reading, for example, the editor’s comments in a recent issue and asking


colleagues about the journal at a meeting of a scholarly association.

‘Publishing a Journal Article,’ Thought & Action 6, 2 (1990): 5–26, 14

4 Henson, Writing for Professional Publication, 107–11; Van Til, Writing

for Professional Publication, 19. According to Olson, query letters ‘help

entice the editor into paying close attention to your article.’ ‘Publishing

Scholarship in Humanistic Disciplines,’ 58

5 Day, How to Get Research Published in Journals, 83, 93; Rodman, ‘Some

Practical Advice for Journal Contributors,’ 237–39

6 Wechsler, ‘Publishing a Journal Article,’ 11

7 Richard T. De George and Fred Woodward, ‘Ethics and Manuscript

Reviewing,’ Journal of Scholarly Publishing 25 (1994): 133–45, 137

8 Ibid., 134

9 Ibid., 143–44

10 Ibid., 134

11 Olson, ‘Publishing Scholarship in Humanistic Disciplines,’ 64

12 All nine (lengthy) sample query letters given by Van Til (Writing for Pro-

fessional Publication, 25–34) begin with personal pronouns that empha-

size the author or authors. Why not emphasize the editor, journal, or

manuscript instead?

13 Day recommends referring to articles published in the same journal

‘when appropriate’; yet she later warns of sycophantic behaviour, espe-

cially with respect to exaggerated references to works by the editor in a

journal submission. How to Get Research Published in Journals, 62, 81

14 See, for example, De George and Woodward, ‘Ethics and Manuscript

Reviewing’; Estelle Irizarry, ‘Redundant and Incremental Publication,’

Journal of Scholarly Publishing 25 (1994): 212–20.

15 For example, the second paragraph of the covering letter reprinted by

Robert C. Maddox reads as follows: ‘Naturally, I will be most willing to

make any changes in the manuscript which you think desirable. Likewise,

I have no objection to your making any editorial improvements that you

deem necessary.’ ‘“We Still Have Quite a Backlog of Articles …,”’ Schol-

arly Publishing 6 (1975): 127–35, 128

16 Sheridan W. Baker, The Practical Stylist, 6th ed. (New York: Harper & Row

1985), 2. Donald W. Fiske agrees that a goal in preparing a manuscript for

submission is persuasion that the paper should be accepted for publica-

tion. ‘Planning and Revising Research Reports,’ in Joseph M. Moxley and

Todd Taylor, eds., Writing and Publishing for Academic Authors, 2nd ed.

(Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield 1997): 71–82, 72

17 John L. Munschauer, Jobs for English Majors and Other Smart People


(Princeton, NJ: Peterson’s Guides 1981): 72. See also Henson, who writes

that the purpose of a covering letter is to ‘sell’ a manuscript to the editors

(Writing for Professional Publication, 112), and Day, who refers to the

editors, reviewers, and readers of journals as ‘customers’ (How to Get

Research Published in Journals, 48).

18 De George and Woodward, ‘Ethics and Manuscript Reviewing,’ 139

successful covering letters for academic journals

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