2. “Cover letter” & How to submit the manuscript Pin Ling ( 凌 斌 ), Ph.D. Department of Microbiology & Immunology, NCKU ext 5632 lingpin@mail.ncku.edu.tw

3. How to prepare the “Cover Letter”? Function of the cover letter Tips for writing the cover letter Example and practice How to submit the manuscript

4. The function of the abstract the first contact to readers Readers A Good AbstractThe Whole Paper A Poor Abstract X The Whole Paper A good abstract delivers the paper’s key points concisely and precisely.

5. The function of the Cover Letter the first contact to the submitted journal & editor(s) Editor(s) A Good Cover letter The Whole Manuscript A Poor Cover letter X The Whole Manuscript A good “Cover letter” delivers the significance of manuscript concisely and precisely.

6. Problems: To which journal is the manuscript being submitted? Is it a new manuscript or a revised one? A manuscript maybe misdirected by a reviewer or an editor? The Manuscript without the Cover Letter

7. Tips for writing the cover letter Usually written in three paragraphs First state your intention of submission (the Title of paper, Journal, copies of manuscripts,….etc). Second state the importance and significance of your paper. Third, suggest the reviewers and/or exclude the reviewers

8. Example of the Cover Letter

9. Example of the Cover Letter-II

10. Example of the Cover Letter-III

12. Follow-up Correspondence Major journals send out an “acknowledge of receipt” letter when the manuscript is received. If not received after 2 weeks, you should contact the journal office. Attached a self-addressed postcard w/ the manuscript for reply purpose.

14. The Structure of A Paper Title Abstract Introduction Materials & Methods Results & Figures Discussion References Read them first and decide to read the rest or not

15. What is the abstract?  Ab, out + trahere, to pull: to pull out To pull out the key points from the paper  An abstract can be viewed as a mini-version of the paper.  Two common types of Abstracts - Informative abstracts: most research papers (five elements) - Indicative (Descriptive) abstracts: review articles