example cover letter resubmission

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Sample Cover Letter for Journal Manuscript Resubmissions

• Publication Process

Writing an Effective Cover Letter for Manuscript Resubmission

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As a researcher who has invested time and effort perfecting a manuscript after years of research, you might be aware of how disappointing it is to receive a “revise and resubmit” notice from your target journal. The good news, however, is that there is still scope for your manuscript to be accepted subsequently—an outcome which is far more desirable than a complete rejection ! How can you improve the chances of your manuscript getting accepted upon resubmission? A well-written cover letter accompanying your manuscript can definitely help!

So, what is a cover letter?

A cover letter is a brief document that introduces your research, submitted along with the manuscript. Here are a few important points to note about it:

• It is usually written and submitted by the corresponding author.
• It is required by most peer-review journals.
• It should include the name of the editor and the journal, the importance of the manuscript, and other relevant details.
• It should include the date of and a brief statement to note the resubmission

What tips should you follow to write a cover letter for resubmission?

Here are some important tips you can follow to ensure that your cover letter is appreciated by the editors and prompts them to revisit your work:

The cover letter to the editor should be brief, formal, and polite. Even if the remarks on your manuscript are rude, do not get upset. Remember that they are not a criticism of you as an individual, but about your work. They are meant only to improve your work.

Provide accurate details

Include your manuscript details such as the title, the corresponding authors’ names, the manuscript number, and a brief statement to note the resubmission.

Draw attention to the changes made

Highlight all the changes you have made to the manuscript. This will form a positive impression on the editor and encourage him/her to consider that your resubmitted work is fit for publication. For example: “I have made every attempt to fully address these comments in the revised manuscript.”

Be positive in your approach

After mentioning the changes you have made to your work, acknowledge that your reviewer’s comments and feedback have helped you enrich your manuscript. For example: “I believe the additional analyses discussed above have helped to substantially improve my manuscript.”

Respond to specific comments

Make sure that you respond to every comment of the reviewers or the editor separately. In case you were unable to make the changes, explain or state the reasons underlying the same. For example: “This is a good point that has led to a rewrite of this section of the paper. As suggested, I agree that…”

Express gratitude

Include a note of thanks to the editor for the opportunity to improve and resubmit your manuscript. For example: “I would also like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude/thanks to the reviewers for the positive feedback and helpful comments that supported these revisions.”

Add a preview for the content

Do not forget to add an at-a-glance roadmap on how and where to check for revisions in the manuscript. It will make it easier for the editor or reviewers to go through the draft. For example: “Below, I have outlined how I have handled Reviewer 1’s comments. I have reiterated each suggestion in (bold/italics).”

In addition, ensure that you dedicate sufficient time to draft the cover letter. This way, it will not come across as a last-minute, hurried addition, but as an informative, comprehensive, and well-thought-out document. Despite these tips, should you still require help, Elsevier Author Services is here to help you. Our experts can guide you through the entire process and help you produce an excellent paper ready for publication!

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Cover letters

A good cover letter can help to “sell” your manuscript to the journal editor. As well as introducing your work to the editor you can also take this opportunity to explain why the manuscript will be of interest to a journal's readers, something which is always as the forefront editors’ mind. As such it is worth spending time writing a coherent and persuasive cover letter.

The following is an example of a poor cover letter:

Dear Editor-in-Chief, I am sending you our manuscript entitled “Large Scale Analysis of Cell Cycle Regulators in bladder cancer” by Researcher et al. We would like to have the manuscript considered for publication in Pathobiology. Please let me know of your decision at your earliest convenience. With my best regards, Sincerely yours, A Researcher, PhD

Instead, check to see whether the journal’s Instructions for Authors have any cover letter requirements (e.g. disclosures, statements, potential reviewers). Then, write a letter that explains why the editor would want to publish your manuscript. The following structure covers all the necessary points that need to be included.

• If known, address the editor who will be assessing your manuscript by their name. Include the date of submission and the journal you are submitting to.
• First paragraph: include the title of your manuscript and the type of manuscript it is (e.g. review, research, case study). Then briefly explain the background to your study, the question you sought out to answer and why.
• Second paragraph: you should concisely explain what was done, the main findings and why they are significant.
• Third paragraph: here you should indicate why the readers of the journal would be interested in the work. Take your cues from the journal’s aims and scope. For example if the journal requires that all work published has broad implications explain how your study fulfils this. It is also a good idea to include a sentence on the importance of the results to the field.
• To conclude state the corresponding author and any journal specific requirements that need to be complied with (e.g. ethical standards).

TIP: All cover letters should contain these sentences:

• We confirm that this manuscript has not been published elsewhere and is not under consideration by another journal.
• All authors have approved the manuscript and agree with its submission to [insert the name of the target journal].

Submission checklist

Before submitting your manuscript, thoroughly check its quality one more time. Evaluate it critically—could anything be done better?

Be sure that:

• The manuscript follows the Instructions for Authors
• All files are in the correct file format and of the appropriate resolution or size
• The spelling and grammar are correct
• You have contact information for all authors
• You have written a persuasive cover letter

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Writing a Cover Letter and Response to Reviewers

Explore the possibilities.

The main purpose of your response to reviewers is to tell the editors how you have revised your manuscript since your initial submission.   You should address each suggested revision made by the reviewers and explain how you have chosen to respond.  The document should be formatted in such a way that the editors can easily track changes made to your manuscript.  It should be organized by reviewer (e.g., Reviewer 1, Reviewer 2) and address the reviews point-by-point.  Comments and responses should be clearly distinguishable.

For example:

1.Your manuscript contains grammatical errors.  For example, on page 3, you used “their” when you should  have used “there.”

We have thoroughly proofread the manuscript and corrected all grammatical errors.

2. The second paragraph of your introduction needs more details about findings by Owl and colleagues (2017).  Be sure to explain their operational definition of “school spirit.”

We agree with Reviewer 1’s assessment of this paragraph and have decided to expand upon it.  We have provided a more detailed summary of Owl and colleagues’ findings, including the operational definition they used for “school spirit” for their study.

1. On pages 1 and 6, you did not include the year of publication in an in-text citation.

We have included years of publication as they correspond to the sources listed on the references page.

2. Two of the sources in your references lack a hanging indentation.

This error has been corrected; all sources are correctly formatted with hanging indentations.

Unless otherwise specified in the email your received from the editors, you may choose whether or not to make any suggested changes.  However, even if you do not change something that has been suggested, you must still address the suggestion in your response, and you must provide a compelling argument for your decision.

1. “Theatre” should be spelled “theater” because “theatre” is not the standard American English spelling.  This is a repeating occurrence.

While Reviewer 1 is correct that most Americans do spell the word “theater,” scholars in my field would accept the use of “theatre” in the context in which I use it in this manuscript.  Thus, I have chosen not to change this spelling.

Additionally, you should:

• Use a professional letter format (i.e., address the correct audience, state your purpose, and be signed by the author(s) of the manuscript) for your cover letter.
• Use a professional tone (i.e., use polite wording throughout the cover letter and response to reviewers, including when making your case for choosing not to follow a reviewer’s suggestion).
• Make sure you have made any changes both within the manuscript AND described them within your response.
• Make all changes and resubmit your manuscript, cover letter, and response to reviewers within the time frame allotted by the editors.

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D. Cover Letter for Resubmission

When one submits the revised version of a manuscript, the cover letter is slightly different from the one for the initial submission. Authors will be expected to make clear how they responded to the suggestions of the editor and the reviewers. In many journals, the editor might explicitly mention a separate document to outline the revisions in detail. In such cases, the authors can start with a general statement of their changes in the cover letter, not forgetting to thank the reviewers for the time they spent on reading the manuscript. Then they can append the details of their changes in a separate document. Note that not all suggestions have to be accepted. In some cases, the author might feel that the suggestion might conflict with one’s own objectives for that paper. In such situations, the authors can explain their reasons for their opinion and explain the alternate strategies they adopted for their revision.

The detailed response can take many forms. In many cases, authors organize the response in two parallel columns. In the first, they mention the suggestions of the editor and each reviewer. In the parallel line on the second column, they indicate how they responded to that suggestion.

Others go line by line through the revisions to comment next to each of them and elaborate their own responses and changes.

It is important for authors not to ignore any major suggestions of the reviewers. In most cases, the revised version will be sent to the same reviewers for a second review. The reviewers and editor will decline publication when they see that the author has not acted upon some of the important suggestions.

–Suresh Canagarajah

Daniel Lemire's blog

Daniel Lemire is a computer science professor at the Data Science Laboratory of the Université du Québec (TÉLUQ) in Montreal. His research is focused on software performance.

Sample Cover Letter for Journal Manuscript Resubmissions

Through Geomblog , I got to this Sample Cover Letter for Journal Manuscript Resubmissions

Sample Cover Letter for Journal Manuscript Resubmissions by Roy F. Baumeister Dear Sir, Madame, or Other: Enclosed is our latest version of Ms # 85-02-22-RRRRR, that is, the re-re-re-revised revision of our paper. Choke on it. We have again rewritten the entire manuscript from start to finish. We even changed the goddamn running head! Hopefully we have suffered enough by now to satisfy even you and your bloodthirsty reviewers. I shall skip the usual point-by-point description of every single change we made in response to the critiques. After all, it is fairly clear that your reviewers are less interested in details of scientific procedure than in working out their personality problems and sexual frustrations by seeking some kind of demented glee in the sadistic and arbitrary exercise of tyrannical power over helpless authors like ourselves who happen to fall into their clutches. We do understand that, in view of the misanthropic psychopaths you have on your editorial board, you need to keep sending them papers, for if they weren’t reviewing manuscripts they’d probably be out mugging old ladies or clubbing baby seals to death. Still, from this batch of reviewers, C was clearly the most hostile, and we request that you not ask him or her to review this revision. Indeed, we have mailed letter bombs to four or five people we suspected of being reviewer C, so if you send the manuscript back to them the review process could be unduly delayed. Some of the reviewers’ comments we couldn’t do anything about. For example, if (as review C suggested) several of my recent ancestors were indeed drawn from other species, it is too late to change that. Other suggestions were implemented, however, and the paper has improved and benefited. Thus, you suggested that we shorten the manuscript by 5 pages, and we were able to accomplish this very effectively by altering the margins and printing the paper in a different font with a smaller typeface. We agree with you that the paper is much better this way. One perplexing problem was dealing with suggestions #13-28 by Reviewer B. As you may recall (that is, if you even bother reading the reviews before doing your decision letter), that reviewer listed 16 works that he/she felt we should cite in this paper. These were on a variety of different topics, none of which had any relevance to our work that we could see. Indeed, one was an essay on the Spanish-American War from a high school literary magazine. The only common thread was that all 16 were by the same author, presumably someone whom Reviewer B greatly admires and feels should be more widely cited. To handle this, we have modified the Introduction and added, after the review of relevant literature, a subsection entitled “Review of Irrelevant Literature” that discusses these articles and also duly addresses some of the more asinine suggestions in the other reviews. We hope that you will be pleased with this revision and will finally recognize how urgently deserving of publication this work is. If not, then you are an unscrupulous, depraved monster with no shred of human decency. You ought to be in a cage. May whatever heritage you come from be the butt of the next round of ethnic jokes. If you do accept it, however, we wish to thank you for your patience and wisdom throughout this process and to express our appreciation of your scholarly insights. To repay you, we would be happy to review some manuscripts for you; please send us the next manuscript that any of these reviewers submits to your journal. Assuming you accept this paper, we would also like to add a footnote acknowledging your help with this manuscript and to point out that we liked the paper much better the way we originally wrote it but you held the editorial shotgun to our heads and forced us to chop, reshuffle, restate, hedge, expand, shorten, and in general convert a meaty paper into stir-fried vegetables. We couldn’t, or wouldn’t, have done it without your input.

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Daniel Lemire

A computer science professor at the University of Quebec (TELUQ). View all posts by Daniel Lemire

One thought on “Sample Cover Letter for Journal Manuscript Resubmissions”

i was literally floored by this letter hahaha

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• Cover Letter
• Cover Letter for Journal Submission: Sample & How To Write

Cover Letter for Journal Submission: Sample & How To Write

You spent months doing research and documenting it in a neat manuscript. Make sure it gets published with this guide to cover letters for journal submissions

As seen in:

Every day, you help the world to move forward. Conducting research, performing tests, and working on scientific experiments are a part of your routine. The data you’ve collected must be processed and presented in a neat manuscript.

But wait. Who’s going to read it? Oh, right. You must have an audience. But not just any audience—you need scientists like you to read and review your paper. And to reach them, you must send your work to scientific journals.

To make sure your groundbreaking findings get published in reputable journals, you must write a professional cover letter for journal submission.

This guide will show you:

• A cover letter for journal submissions better than 9 out of 10 others.
• A sample cover letter for manuscript submission that gets your work published.
• A step-by-step guide on how to write a cover letter for a journal submission.
• How a neat abstract can put your scientific career on the right track.

Want to write your cover letter fast? Use our cover letter builder. Choose from 20+ professional cover letter templates that adapt to your content and already have all the formatting in place. Make your document look perfect with zero effort! 

CREATE YOUR COVER LETTER NOW

That’s a sample cover letter for a journal submission made with our builder. See more cover letter templates and create your cover letter here .

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Check this cover letter for journal submission sample:

Cover Letter for Journal Submission Sample

Sushmita Devi, M. Sc. 

Psychology Research Fellow, Indian Institute of Psychology & Research, Bangalore

+91 82 97651366

[email protected]

linkedin.com/in/sushmita.devi4

Bangalore, 01.02.2022

Chief Editor

The International Journal of Indian Psychology

Sardar Patel University

Vallabh Vidyanagar, 388120

Dear Mr. Sur,

I'm honoured to submit my manuscript entitled  " Life dissatisfaction and anxiety levels among teenage Instagram users in Bangalore "  to be considered for publication as a case report in The International Journal of Indian Psychology.

As a psychology research fellow at the Indian Institute of Psychology & Research in Bangalore, I have focused on working with youth from various socioeconomic backgrounds. While serving as a counsellor, I've noticed high general anxiety levels, body image issues, eating disorders, and overall life dissatisfaction among 13–18-year-olds who used Instagram regularly and extensively.

I’ve conducted interviews with 168 individuals who declared active use of Instagram, defined as posting on their profiles at least once per day and interacting with the platform for more than 4 hours a day. Each individual filled out a self-assessment questionnaire to provide an overview of their self-esteem and to describe their Instagram habits. After gathering this preliminary data, I have discussed the answers with each participant and further evaluated their mental health.

Since social media is increasingly recognized as a major influence on children and teenagers, it’s also more often seen as a problem by parents and teachers. I believe that the findings presented in my case report may appeal to child psychologists, counsellors, social workers, and educators. Understanding the correlation between Instagram use and mental wellbeing can lead to the creation of health campaigns and establishing ways to enhance the positive effect of social media while minimizing the negative outcomes.

This manuscript examines a different aspect of the issues covered in the following papers also published by The International Journal of Indian Psychology: 

• "The effect of Instagram addiction on quality of life among undergraduate students in Mysuru" by Schwann S Akanksh, Lancy D’Souza, Manish S, published in December 2020.
• "Social Media Use and Social Anxiety among Adolescents" by Cheryl Jolly, published in February 2022
• "Social Media Usage and Social Appearance Anxiety in Young Adults" by Teresa Sharon M A, Zidan Kachhi, Dr. Deepthi Vijayan, published in August 2021.

I declare that this manuscript is original and has not been published before. It is not currently being considered for publication elsewhere. No financial support was received for this study.

As the only author, I have approved the final version of the manuscript and agree to be accountable for all aspects of this work.

I believe that the following individuals would be well suited to reviewing my manuscript:

• Dr. Ehsaan Muni, University of Calcutta, Associate Professor specializing in child and adolescent mental health disorders:  [email protected]  
• Dr. Nupoor Golla, Banaras Hindu University, Assistant Professor specializing in cross-cultural health psychology:  [email protected]  
• Dr. Baldev Mutti, Bangalore University, Assistant Professor specializing in child psychology:  [email protected]

To the best of my knowledge, none of the above-suggested persons has any conflict of interest, financial or otherwise.

I look forward to hearing from you,

Indian Institute of Psychology & Research

St. Anthony's Friary, #85, Hosur Road, Bangalore-560095

See? Not that complicated! Yet, it brings you a few steps closer to getting that research paper published.

Thinking of improving on your resume to better present yourself to the academic community? Check this guide: How to Write a Resume for a Job: See a Good Sample & Guide  

Now, let’s see how to write a cover letter for journal submission:

1. Start With the Proper Cover Letter for Journal Submission Template

Appearances matter. You wouldn’t wear a baggy T-shirt and shorts to an academic conference. In the same way, you don’t want your cover letter for journal submission to look sloppy.

Follow these steps to create a professional template:

Cover Letter for Journal Submission Checklist

• Add your contact information, degree, name of the institution
• List the editor’s name, the name of the journal, address, and submission date
• Greet the editor by name: Dear Mr./Mrs. XYZ
• Say the title of your manuscript
• Explain your motivation behind this paper
• Summarize the research in an abstract
• Highlight why readers might be interested in your paper
• Mention past papers from this journal that explored similar themes
• Add mandatory declarations
• Point to potential reviewers
• Regards + your info

Interested in writing a cover letter as well? Read more: How to Write a Cover Letter: Examples & Full Guide

2. Begin Your Cover Letter for Journal Submission Strong

Scientific journals receive hundreds of submissions on a daily basis. Even if your research is truly groundbreaking, they might overlook it.

Hoping to see your name in The Lancet ? Then start with putting it in your cover letter! Make sure to also include your contact information, degree, and the academic institution that backs you up. Then, list the information of the chief editor you’re addressing.

But that’s not all!

The first paragraph of your cover letter for journal submission must present the title of your manuscript. It’s also worth noting the type of article, such as review, case study, research, etc. Then, explain why you’ve conducted your research and mention the main findings.

This example presents the themes of the manuscript in a clear and concise manner. It includes all the essential information.

While the title of the article sounds promising, the information provided by the author doesn’t explain why they chose this particular subject and what they focused on.

Pro Tip: Many journals, including Nature , Science , and Elsevier , list the exact information required in the cover letter for journal submissions. Make sure to check the requirements of your preferred journal before writing your cover letter!

3. Put the Abstract in the Middle of Your Cover Letter for Journal Submission

The editor’s attention spiked after the intro, but now it dropped.

Because you started rambling about your unique findings without mentioning how you got to these conclusions. They’ve decided you’re just a dreamer with no facts to back up your ideas.

Don’t try to shake the world—first, prove you know what you’re talking about:

• Describe your scientific methods and type of data you’ve collected.
• Mention why your study is important and who might benefit from it.
• List articles that covered similar themes.

See? There’s no need for a lengthy essay here.

Check this cover letter for journal submission sample to see what I’m talking about:

Cover Letter for Journal Submission—Middle Part

You’ve got it all! This shows the editor you know what you’re talking about. You aren’t a pseudo-scientist trying to push your intuitive beliefs on others.

Ouch. That’s really vague. It doesn’t seem convincing—maybe the author isn’t really a scientist?

Pro Tip: Writing about your research in English may not be as natural to you as chatting with fellow researchers over lunch. Studies show that many papers from non-English speaking authors are regularly rejected by editors because of incorrect grammar. If you need to improve your language skills, consider joining courses specifically for scientists, such as Coursera’s English for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics .

When making a resume and a cover letter in our builder, drag & drop bullet points, skills, and auto-fill the boring stuff. Spell check? Check . Start building a professional resume template here for free .

When you’re done, Zety’s resume builder will score your resume and tell you exactly how to make it better.

4. Add Mandatory Declarations to Your Cover Letter for Journal Submission

Now, this is a very easy part.

Most journals require authors to include various statements. They provide backing for the journal in case of legal issues.

Those may include:

• Statement that none of the material has been previously published or is currently under consideration for publication in another journal
• Statement that informed consent was obtained for investigations on humans
• Statement that animals’ care during the study was in accordance with local guidelines
• Statement regarding possible conflict of interest, funding sources, competing interests, etc.

To make sure you included all required clauses, always check the requirements of the journal.

Cover Letter for Journal Submission—Mandatory Clauses

It’s clear and easy to understand. The required statements are covered here.

There aren’t enough details here. It’s always best to just paraphrase the clauses listed in submission requirements.

Pro Tip: Always be upfront about a potential conflict of interest, especially when your research was financed by a private institution. There’s no shame in getting private funding! In the U.S., over 70% of research and development is funded by the private sector . 

5. Finish Your Cover Letter for Journal Submission

Now it’s time for the last step: the ending!

But before you can click “send” on your submission, there’s one more important thing.

The reviewers.

That’s one of the goals of your submission—to get your article reviewed by other scientists. This way, you become more trustworthy. It will also help to gain interest in your research, which might lead to future job opportunities.

Think of 3–5 persons from the academic community who might be interested in your research. It’s best if they study similar themes or published articles on related topics. Pay attention to potential conflicts of interest!

Cover Letter for Journal Submission—Ending

It’s pretty clear why these individuals could be interested in reviewing this article—they all specialize in similar topics.

A great cover letter that matches your CV will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here .  Here's what it may look like:

See more cover letter templates and start writing.

Key Takeaway

This is the easiest formula to write a cover letter for journal submission:

• Use the proper format for a cover letter for journal submission to make sure you include essential information. 
• State the reasoning behind your article.
• Show your methods to prove you’re a serious scientist.
• Point to readers who could benefit from your research.
• Include mandatory statements.
• Mention potential reviewers.

Now get to writing!

Not sure how to customize your cover letter to the journal’s requirements? Having trouble describing your research methods? Leave a comment below. I’ll be happy to assist you!

About Zety’s Editorial Process

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How to Write a Winning Journal Response Letter (free templates)

The structure, tone, and style of your journal response letter (also known as a rebuttal letter) can all affect whether your research will be accepted for publication. Yet surprisingly, some researchers hurt their chances at this stage when they’re just a step from success.

They get defensive or snippy, use poor English, or don’t explain their reasoning. That can be costly. And they’re so close!

You can seal the deal with superb revisions and a strong response letter that explains your revisions and gives your rebuttal.

What makes a good journal response letter? Manners, diplomacy, logic, explanation, and good English. All of which are well within your reach.

Let’s look at the critical steps for responding to peer review and getting published. On the way, we’ll include insider tips from our published experts.

• 1.1 Responses from journals, and responding to them
• 1.2 Revising your manuscript
• 2.1 Polite, generic header and salutation
• 2.2 Express thanks
• 2.3 Give an overview/executive brief
• 2.4 End the letter on a positive note
• 2.5.1 First-person or third-person structure are both OK
• 2.5.2.1 Example peer reviewer suggestion:
• 2.5.2.2 Here’s another example peer suggestion:
• 2.6.1 Here are the same suggestions from the reviewers above, but this time the author is disagreeing with them:
• 3 A final word on journal response letters

Getting to the response letter stage

After you submit your manuscript to a journal, you’ll typically receive a reply of accept, reject, minor revisions, or major revisions . The first two are obvious; the second two will require a response letter and individual point-by-point responses to the issues the reviewers raised.

Keep in mind that you’ve already done well to make it this far! Science rejects about 80% on first submission and ultimately only published about 7%. Biomaterials ? 14.7% acceptance.

Even broad-reaching open-access journals are quite selective: PLOS ONE takes about 45% of submissions and BMJ Open about 40%.

Responses from journals, and responding to them

In general, journals give you about 1 month for “minor” issues like revising how you present your data or getting a professional English-language edit . They’ll give around 3 months for “major” revisions such as re-analysis or new studies.

As you work through your revisions, it’s best to work on your point-by-point response at the same time, like a journal of your revisions. Then it’ll be nearly done by the time you’re done revising. You’ll just have to brush it up and add the intro.

Regarding formatting of your revisions, check the journal’s guidelines or contact the journal directly to confirm what they prefer. Most likely they’ll be done with:

• amendments manually highlighted
• deletions marked with strikethrough
• changes made using a certain color (usually red)
• the Track Changes function in Word
• …or if it’s in LaTeX, you may need to use the Changes package

Revising your manuscript

When you choose to resubmit to the same journal, do whatever the peer reviewers recommend, if you agree.

This can include:

• performing and documenting additional requested experiments or analyses
• adding key references/citations
• adding or removing tables and figures
• improving your scientific English

You also may not agree with all the peer reviewers’ requests and suggestions. They’re human and they’re busy. They may be wrong or a bit off.

In this case, you have to consider if you can justify your choice to reject the suggestions.

You’ll need to provide a well-reasoned argument. For example, if the suggested experiments fell outside the scope of your study, make a strong case for why they’re not suitable.

Peer reviewers aren’t perfect, but they are standing between you and publication. And they must be dealt with calmly and respectfully.

Your manuscript will need to be revised to incorporate any changes you make such as new data. This may be a relatively painless text rework, or you may need to consult with a statistician and prepare new figures and tables. And this all leads to the response letter.

Structure and style of a journal rebuttal letter

The response/rebuttal letter to a journal is like a short version of the cover letter you initially sent when you submitted your work. This time, you don’t need to fully “sell” your entire study again, but the sale’s not done yet. You need keep the prospective “buyer” (the journal) interested. You need to close the deal.

The corresponding author should write the response letter on behalf of the authors.

“ A journal response letter is another opportunity for you to emphasize the importance and impact of your work to the journal, demonstrate your knowledge and authority on the research, and fully address the issues the peer reviewers have identified. “ — Geraldine Echue , PhD, CMPP Edanz Managing Editor

Stay professional, confident, and respectful. And use error-free English. The overall tone should be polite, business-like, and clear.

Regarding format, you’ll likely be submitting this as document, so structure it as you would structure a business letter. Don’t cut corners or treat it like a casual email.

Polite, generic header and salutation

Put the date, journal name, and either the name of the editor-in-chief or the editor who is handling the correspondence. Call them “Dr.” or “Professor” as appropriate.

If you’re not sure, check the journal’s Editorial Board information. If that still doesn’t give a title, Google them , check their latest studies, and/or look them up on ResearchGate or LinkedIn. As a default, use Professor + their last name. Do not use “Mr.” or “Ms.” (and never use “Mrs.”) unless they themselves used it in their letter to you.

Then address the first part of your response letter to that journal editor.

State the manuscript reference number and title so that the editor can refer to previous correspondence about your submission.

Dear Professor Smith,

Re: manuscript reference no. BH0914325J Please find attached a revised version of our manuscript… ”

Express thanks

No matter how much you agreed with the reviewers, or thought they were way off-target, thank them and the editor formally.

For example: “ We wish to thank you and the reviewers for your insightful comments. These have greatly helped us to improve the quality of our manuscript. “

Give an overview/executive brief

Provide an overview of the main changes you made to your study and explain how you indicated these revisions in the manuscript.

For example: “ In accordance with Reviewer 1’s comments, we deleted the table and prepared a new summary figure (Fig. 6). Our revisions to the text are recorded using Track Changes in MS Word. Our point-by-point responses to the reviewers’ comments are shown below. “

“ Editors are busy people and may only skim through response letters. But they want to get the impression that the authors are being comprehensive and taking the process seriously. The executive brief sentence saves them time and trouble. “ — Gareth Dyke , PhD Edanz Author Education Manager

End the letter on a positive note

Complete this part of the response letter by signing off as you did for your cover letter. For example:

“ We hope that these revisions are sufficient to make our manuscript suitable for publication in the British Journal of Haematology and look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience. “

Then provide the full contact details of the corresponding author and list your point-by-point responses below it.

Here’s an example of a full letter.

You can also download a cover letter template and peer response letter template from our learning resource library. They’re free.

And if you want to dig deeper, we offer simple, expert-designed courses to walk you through the entire research publication process, at the Edanz My Learning Lab .

Give your point-by-point responses

You should put a number by each reviewer’s comment (if they’re not already numbered), and go in sequence starting with Reviewer 1.

General rules on tone and style

• Be polite, always. This means using formal sentences, expressing thanks, and avoiding passive–aggressive or flat-out rude remarks.
• Be grateful. Peer review is a free service and it’s an essential and valuable part of the scientific publication process.
• Ignore the reviewer’s grammar or spelling mistakes, if any. Don’t correct them. Many reviewers are not native speakers or use curt, even rude, comments. That’s beyond your control; it’s not personal.
• Make sure YOUR spelling and grammar are perfect. Get a professional edit if there’s any chance your English is not perfect.
• Err on the side of over-explaining vs. being short or dismissive.

It’s also a positive gesture to give a general note of thanks before addressing each peer review comment.

First-person or third-person structure are both OK

There’s no specific rule of whether to use a first-person or third-person voice in your responses. You can feel confident using either. Just be consistent.

Also, unless you know the reviewer’s identity, refer to them in the gender-neutral “they”/”their”. Do NOT use “he” as a default.

First person: “ Thank you very much for your detailed and useful comments. We have addressed each of them as follows. ”

Third person: “ We thank Reviewer 1 for their detailed and useful comments. We have addressed each of them as follows. ”

If you agree with the suggestion and revised accordingly

If you agree with the reviewer’s suggestion, say that you agree, and explain how you have modified your manuscript following that suggestion.

Example peer reviewer suggestion:

1. Standard deviation is large in Fig. 3 data . ANOVA should be used after confirming normal distribution.

Response: We thank Reviewer 1 for this valuable suggestion and we agree. Accordingly, we modified our statistical analyses. We performed ANOVA after first performing a logarithmic transformation of all variables. We have described this change in Statistical Analysis in the Methods section (p.4, lines 15–20). We also modified our Results (p. 7, lines 2–6) and Discussion sections (p. 9, lines 11–13) in line with this change, and modified Figure 3 based on the revised data.

Note the use of bold and italics to distinguish the authors’ response from the reviewer’s comment. There is a clear explanation of what was done in the revised manuscript.

Page and line numbers were also used to indicate where the changes were made. These numbers are helpful for the reviewers, but it’s best to add them when you’re fully done with your revisions, but they will change as your manuscript changes. Double-check all page and line numbers before re-submission, to be sure they’re accurate.

Here’s another example peer suggestion:

2. Subjective well-being needs more background in the lit review. Include mention of how it intersects with happiness studies, health psychology, I/O psychology, and overall QOL.

Response: We thank Reviewer 1 for this suggestion. We regret that our literature review was somewhat inadequate. Accordingly, we have added relevant studies in the Introduction (p. 3, lines 5–6 and 19–21). We hope there is now a more accurate portrait of the significance of subjective well-being).

This was a shorter comment. As the authors agreed, the response shows sufficient thanks and gives sufficient details. The added text will speak for itself.

“ Clearly and concisely summarize the changes you made in response to the peer review comments, especially if there are ones you don’t agree with. “ — Gareth Dyke , PhD Edanz Author Education Manager

If you disagree with the peer reviewer’s suggestion

You do have the right to disagree.

But unless the reviewer’s request was completely off-base or misinformed, try to incorporate it at least partially. For example, if they suggest adding reference to three studies, but you find those studies mostly irrelevant, try to accommodate at least one. It also shows you’re open to criticism, which is essential in scientific studies.

If you completely disagree with a reviewer’s suggestion, you need to give a convincing counterargument. This is called a rebuttal. It’s where you diplomatically and rationally explain why you disagree.

Try to understand the reviewer’s perspective. Perhaps they are not familiar with your methodology. Or maybe their strength is in a slightly different niche.

Use citations to back your argument, where possible, and present a solid case.

Here are the same suggestions from the reviewers above, but this time the author is disagreeing with them:

Response: Thank you for your suggestion. Although we acknowledge that the use of ANOVA would enable us to better compare our findings with those of other studies, our data did not follow a normal distribution; thus, we could not perform this analysis. We therefore re-analyzed our data based on the Leverhaus model (Leverhaus et al., 1978) and modified the Methods section to describe this analysis (p. 4, line 8). We also revised Figure 3 and added two sentences to the Discussion to explain this model (p. 10, lines 1–3).

This accomplishes all the goals of expressing thanks, being polite and diplomatic, showing disagreement, compromising by making a related change, and giving thorough explanation throughout.

Response: Thank you for this suggestion. We acknowledge the significance of subjective well-being and we felt our literature review put it in adequate context by mentioning its growing association with a number of fields since the seminal work by Diener (1984). We must note that subjective well-being is not a central theme in our study. Additionally, the journal’s word limitations only permit us to add a small number of words to the manuscript. For these reasons, we felt it was not feasible to accommodate the suggestion in full. Accordingly, however, we see the importance of the relation with happiness studies and have added reference to that (p. 3, lines 5–6). We hope this satisfies your request. Again, we do sincerely appreciate your guidance.

The authors had a good reason (study scope and the journal’s word limits) for not extending their literature review. They explained it diplomatically and compromised by adding a reference. They also erred on the side of over-explaining. In a response letter, there’s no harm in that.

“Through effective communication with peer reviewers, the response letter is a mechanism by which you can improve your manuscript and your research ability.” — Geraldine Echue , PhD, CMPP Edanz Managing Editor

A final word on journal response letters

Though a response letter to a journal, and your point-by-point responses to reviewers take a bit of time, they’re part of the process. They’re also, potentially, the last step before you get published. Keep your eye on that final, glorious goal. You want to get published, maintain or increase your publication rate , and get cited.

Being overly defensive or refusing to make any concessions to the peer reviewers could lead to your rejection. Then you’re off to another journal and have to go through all the same steps. Do you really want that?

For more details on how to effectively submit your manuscript and deal with peer review, we offer the Journal Submission and Peer Review among the many courses in Edanz Learning Lab. Try a free lesson now. Of course, we’re also happy to edit your re-submission and edit or even write your point-by-point response letter .

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Resubmission Applications

A resubmission is an unfunded application that has been modified following initial review and resubmitted for consideration.

• A resubmission application can follow a competing new, renewal, or revision application (A0) that was not selected for funding (including applications "not discussed" in review).
• Only a single resubmission (A1) of a competing new, renewal, or revision application (A0) will be accepted.
• A resubmission has a suffix in its application identification number, e.g., A1. (Resubmissions were previously called “amended” applications, hence “A1”.)
• Resubmission must be listed in the Application Types Allowed section of the funding opportunity in order to submit a resubmission application.
• You may resubmit using a different PA, PAR, or PAS program announcement  that accepts resubmissions, provided eligibility and other requirements are met.
• You must submit a new application (not a resubmission) if switching between a program announcement and request for application (RFA) or if changing activity codes (see NOT-OD-18-197 for exceptions).
• You may submit an unfunded application as new again, without a resubmission.
• Before a resubmission application can be submitted, the PD/PI must have received the summary statement from the previous review.
• You must submit the resubmission application within 37 months of the new, renewal, or revision application it follows.  Thereafter, the application must be submitted as a new application.
• After an unsuccessful resubmission (A1), you may submit the idea as a new application.
• After an unsuccessful submission and/or resubmission of a renewal application, your only option for a subsequent application is to submit as a new application.  While you can submit a renewal resubmission application after an unsuccessful renewal application, you cannot submit a second renewal application following an unsuccessful renewal application.
• Resubmission applications follow the same timeline as other applications (~9 months to award).
• The NIH will not accept duplicate or highly overlapping applications under review at the same time, except in certain limited circumstances.
• Resubmission applications must be submitted through Grants.gov to NIH using ASSIST, Workspace, or an institutional system-to-system solution.
• You may need to make significant changes to the resubmission, compared to the new application that it follows.
• You may include a cover letter, though not required.
• Select "Resubmission" in Type of Application field (box 8) on the SF424 R&R form.
• Do not markup changes within application attachments (e.g., do not highlight, color, bold or italicize changes in Research Strategy).
• Responds to the issues and criticism raised in the summary statement.
• Is one page or less in length, unless specified otherwise in the funding opportunity or is specified differently on our table of page limits .
• In a multi-project application, you must submit an introduction with the Overall component, but introductions within the other components are optional.
• In a resubmission of a revision application the same introduction must describe within the standard page limit the nature and impact of the revision and summarize the changes made to the application since the last submission.
• Career development and fellowship applicants must arrange for resubmission of the three reference letters required for those programs.

History of NIH’s policy on resubmissions

We encourage applicants to discuss questions about resubmission with the NIH Institute/Center scientific contact associated with your grant application. Contacts for your grant can be found in your eRA Commons account.

General questions concerning this policy may be directed to the Division of Receipt and Referral at the Center for Scientific Review.

This page last updated on: April 3, 2023

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Q: Can I have a sample cover letter to explain the details of rejection and resubmission when I have changed the type of article?

I submitted a manuscript to an English journal as an original paper, but it was rejected. However, the editor suggested that I resubmit my manuscript as a short communication. I agree with that suggestion. Given this scenario, the editor requires me to explain the details of the original submission and the history of the resubmission in a cover letter. But I cannot find a sample for such a cover letter. So, could you provide me such a sample cover letter?

Asked on 10 Jun, 2020

It’s great that there is good news along with bad news. :-)  Bad, that your original manuscript got rejected. Good, that it’s now getting considered in another form. It’s great also that you seem quite okay with this suggestion. Many researchers tend to resist such a suggestion, as a ‘short communication’ is not considered as ‘significant’ as a standard article.

Coming to your query, the editor possibly needs the revised cover letter primarily for reference. As the journal is the same and probably the editor too, the letter does not need too much context. So, you don't need to provide great details.

However, we may not have a sample cover letter that meets this exact requirement . If needed, you may refer to the following resources and use the information within to customize a cover letter for this scenario.

• How to write a cover letter for my submission?
• A practical handbook of templates for communicating with the journal : In this, you may specifically refer to Lectures 2 ( Craft a winning cover letter for your manuscript ) and 8 ( How to submit a revised manuscript as a new submission ).

Apart from that, here are some pointers for the two key points you need to address.

• Details of original submission : You could talk about what your original paper was about, why you decided to submit to this journal, and why decided to have it as an original manuscript.
• History of resubmission : You could talk about the editor (and/or peer reviewers’) comments/suggestions for turning this into a different type of article, their reasons for suggesting this, why you agree, how you have adapted the article, why you think it now works as the new article type, and your hope that it is indeed accepted in its new form – especially as you have spent quite some time and effort in both submissions. :-)

Hope that helps. All the best for the revised submission!

Related reading :

• 6 Article types that journals publish
• What different types of articles do journals publish and how to identify a specific article type?

Answered by Editage Insights on 10 Jun, 2020

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Sample Letters

Unique letters by an experienced writer

Sample Letters for Resubmission of Proposal

Sample Letter # 1

Resubmission of Proposal

Our letter of proposal for (service offered) is submitted to you behalf few days ago. Since we have not received any response from you, we decided to make sure that the letter was delivered to you and caught your attention. On this matter, we enclosed a copy of initial original proposal of service for you to review it.

As you see on the proposal, the exact price quoted is good for (state number of days) right after submitting our bid. Because of this, we sincerely thought that it would be nicer to follow with you and find out if you have any interest in have our service.

We look forward to your response to us and we hope that you give us the opportunity to serve you better even in the near future.

———————————————————————————————————————-

Sample Letter # 2

To: Name here

Couple of weeks ago, we submitted our proposal for the purpose of (state purpose. Seeing that we have not heard any feedback from you since then, we decided to send this letter to ask if our first letter caught your attention.

In line with our follow up, we attached a copy of the original proposal that we sent your good office for another review.

The detailed price/expenditure is for (state days) after the submission of our proposed bid. Therefore, we believe that it would be wise to send you a resubmission of proposal this time to determine your potential interest.

  We are hoping to receive a reply from you and we will appreciate the best chance that you will give us.

Sample Letter # 3

Resubmission of Service Proposal

To: (Mr./Ms./Mrs.)

Our team submitted a proposal for (service) to you some time ago. And since we did not get any answer from you, we want to assure that this resubmitted letter would grab your interest already. To make it clear, we also enclosed a copy of the original

proposal we sent you before and you can review it better.

If you got the chance to review it, you will see the price quoted for completion is good for (number of days) once you approve our proposal.

  We are positive that you will answer our letter and we look forward to having the best opportunity to choose our service and experience total satisfaction.

Truly Yours,

(name of representative)

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