当你辛辛苦苦完成论文手稿并选好了具体的目标期刊时,你在投稿前还需要完成一件非常重要的事情,那就是写投稿信(Cover Letter)。那么和艾德思小编一起来看看投稿信Cover Letter的标准写法吧~
一封条理清晰的Cover Letter可以简明扼要地描述你研究的重要性和新颖性,以及该研究与目标期刊的关系,从而给期刊编辑一个非常好的印象,了解为什么他们应该考虑在期刊上发表你的文章。
目前,大多数的英文学术期刊在投稿过程中均需上传Cover Letter,下面就和大家介绍一下新手该如何写SCI的Cover Letter:
一、首先需要仔细阅读目标杂志的投稿要求
少数期刊在author guideline中对Cover Letter会有非常具体的信息要求,因此,明确该杂志Cover Letter需要包括的内容和格式。例如,Springer出版社要求(具体网址:https://www.springer.com/cover-letters/)在投稿时,Checklist需要包括“a persuasive cover letter”。该出版社同时举例了写的“差的Cover Letter”与“好的Cover Letter”,除了常规内容,该出版社旗下杂志的Cover Letter需要包括“disclosures”、“statements”、“potential reviewers”等。
二、为Cover Letter制定一个框架
l除了目标期刊要求的信息外,Cover Letter通常还应包含以下内容:
- 说明文章标题和你要投稿的期刊
- 你的研究为什么重要,与该杂志领域相关的原因
- 你的研究回答了什么学术问题,主要的研究结果和发现,及从研究中得出的最重要结论
- 声明该文章尚未发表,也没有考虑在任何其他期刊上发表
- 说明所有作者均批准将该文章投稿给该期刊的一份声明
- 该研究是否有相关课题及基金资助,潜在审稿人等
三、撰写Cover Letter的主体部分
首先,用一两句话简单描述文章标题和目标杂志名称。例如,“I am writing to submit our manuscript entitled, “Characterization and antiviral susceptibility of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron/BA.2”, for consideration for publication in Nature.”或者“We would like to submit the enclosed manuscript entitled " Characterization and antiviral susceptibility of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron/BA.2", which we wish to be considered for publication in Nature.” 文章标题和杂志名称可黑体强调。
然后,简要陈述研究的问题或相关背景及研究结果。重点解释为什么做这个研究,并清晰、简洁地阐述研究结果和结论。例如,“Because our findings could be applied in the clinic for that several therapeutic monoclonal antibodies and antiviral compounds are effective against Omicron/BA.2 variants, they are likely to be of great interest to the clinicians who read your journal.” 或“In this paper, we report an unexpected, effect of…””Our findings challenge the classic view of…” 这部分需要向编辑展示文章的重要性与新颖性,因为这样的文章往往会被高度引用,从而增加期刊的影响因子。但描述时不能夸大其词。
紧接着,需要陈述期刊要求的声明,包括关于排他性和作者批准投稿的声明。例如, “This manuscript describes original work and is not under consideration by any other journal. All authors approved the manuscript and this submission.” 或“All authors have approved the manuscript for submission and without any potential competing interests. In addition, the paper is not submitted to any other journals. On behalf of all authors, I have been very impressed by the overall quality of the work published by Nature.”或“We have reviewed the final version of the manuscript and approve it for publication. To the best of our knowledge, this manuscript has not been published in whole or in part nor is it being considered for publication elsewhere.” 部分期刊还需要在Cover Letter中国标注资助的课题和基金。例如,“This research was partially or fully sponsored by (write the name of sponsoring agency) with grant number (write the grant number here).”
最后,感谢编辑的审阅及对投稿文章的考虑。例如,“Thank you for receiving our manuscript and considering it for publication in Nature. We appreciate your time and look forward to your response.”
四、完善Cover Letter的开头和结尾
Cover Letter的开头需要写清楚日期及称呼,对于暂未分配编辑的文章,可称呼“Dear Editor:”,但是若明确杂志主编的姓名,称呼“Dear Dr. XXX:”或“Dear Prof. XXX:”更显尊重与诚意。Cover Letter的结尾需写明致谢,及作者姓名、最高学历、所属机构和地址等。例如,“Kind regards,” 或“Thank you,”或“Yours sincerely,”;另起一行写明作者姓名(一般为通讯作者而非投稿作者)。
五、校对Cover Letter
注意Cover Letter的语法结构,删减无关内容及实验技术细节,避免未定义的缩写,尽量保证长度在1~2页以内。
最后列举两个Cover Letter模板给大家:
模板1:
模板2:
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艾德思(EditSprings),专业润色翻译。科研之路为你助力!