除了概述投稿論文的重點，你的封面函（cover letter，也稱投稿信／自薦信）應該運用說服力「推銷」你的作品，令編輯希望細閱全文，然後把它轉交同行審稿人。
一般期刊每星期都會收到數以百計的投稿，所以一封好的原稿封面函，可以讓你的作品脫穎而出。據本公司聯席總編輯Rachel Baron博士解釋，封面函寫得不好，往往令人留下壞印象，做成反效果：
按此觀看足本網上研討會： 出版發表準備就緒？如何確保你的論文留下迴響
Your cover letter should not only summarise the key message of your submitted paper, but also convincingly “sell” your work and make the editor want to read the full paper and send it out to peer reviewers.
A good manuscript cover letter can make your submission stand out from the hundreds of submissions a journal may receive each week. A bad cover letter, on the other hand, may work against you by making a poor first impression, as explained by Dr. Rachel Baron, our Co-Chief Editor:
雖然過渡到數碼投稿系統後，封面函的重要性有所降低，但是很多期刊仍然需要或建議投稿人在提交作品時附上封面函。例如，《Nature》便表明：
“Although optional, the cover letter is an excellent opportunity to briefly discuss the importance of the submitted work and why it is appropriate for the journal.”
不論你的目標期刊有否要求你投稿時附上封面函，又或你無論如何都決定寫上一封，花點心思和時間寫出得體有效、令人印像深刻的封面函仍是相當值得的。我們將透過本指南為你展示如何以六個步驟實現這個目標。
A. 為原稿撰寫封面函
B. 封面函示例[免費下載]
你的目標期刊可能會要求封面函必須限制在1頁之內。即使不設頁數或字數上限，封面函最好還是在1至2頁內完成（單行間距），你應該善用有限空間作出最佳表述。
寫上款時應得體專業，向合適的收件人問好。切勿以「Hello」、「Greetings」或「To whom it may concern」等通用句子來做上款。
先瀏覽目標期刊的網站，以找出期刊編輯的名字，常見的職銜包括「總編輯」（Editor-in-Chief）、「主編」（Chief Editor）、「編輯」（Editor）、「行政編輯」（Executive Editor）或「責任編輯」（Managing Editor）等。主題範圍廣泛的期刊可能要求你聯絡負責個別主題或文章種類的資深或副主編。你可以從期刊寫有「編輯委員會」（Editorial Board）、「期刊員工」（Journal Staff）或類似的頁面上找到相關負責人。
✗ Dear Sir/Madam,
✗ Hello,
✓ Dear Dr Huang,
✓ Dear Mr Horton:
✓ Dear Ms Li
✓ Dear Editor-in-Chief: (只有在你無法找到編輯姓名時才使用編輯的職銜)
視乎你遵循美式、英式或其他格式，上款（例如Dr. Huang還是Dr Huang）以至信函其餘部份的標點符號寫法也有所不同。我們建議你選定一種格式後在全信中貫徹使用。
請於首段落說明信函目的。除了原稿標題也應包括投稿種類（例如原創研究論文、文獻綜述、研究簡報、信函、個案報告）。請以目標期刊的術語來表明你的文章種類，這樣可以顯示你注重細節和熟悉期刊風格。
你也可在首段提及任何特別情況，包括此前曾否聯絡期刊，或原稿是否再次投稿。全信應以正式英語撰寫，並採用一致的標點和拼寫格式（例如以下第一個例子採用美式英語，而第二和第三個例子則為英式英語）。
✓ I am writing to submit my paper, “Title of your manuscript,” to Journal Name as an Original Article.
✓ On behalf of my co-authors, I am submitting the attached Brief Communication, ‘Title of your manuscript’, to Journal Name for fast-track consideration for the upcoming special issue on X.
✓ My co-authors and I were pleased to receive your favourable response of 1 April 2021 to our pre-submission enquiry regarding a state-of-the-art review on X. Accordingly, we would like to submit the enclosed manuscript, ‘Title of your manuscript’, for consideration for publication as a Review Article in Journal Name.
起首部份不應遺漏任何重要資料，包括標題、文章種類、期刊名稱，切勿使用非正式英語，也不要過份進取。
✗ Please consider my article for publication in your journal!
✗ I’d be glad if you’d accept our paper for publication in Journal Name
謹記檢查目標期刊 （及其主編）的名字均拼寫正確，特別是把曾被拒發表的原稿向另一期刊投稿時。
下一段是封面函其中一個最重要的部份，你應該在此說服編輯，說明你的原稿值得審閱。
雖然直接抄貼原稿摘要的想法非常吸引，但是封面函摘要的目的和風格均不盡相同。原稿摘要一般以類似的語言和類似的資料排序概述原稿（引言、方法、結果、結論），目的是吸引讀者細閱全文。
雖然封面函摘要也應概述原稿，但應以投稿該期刊和相關領域的價值為焦點，務求說服編輯細閱原稿摘要。你應使用簡明淺白、非專門性的語言，因為期刊編輯不一定是你所屬領域或主題的專家。行文上也應避免自吹自擂、感情用事、過分隨性或用詞冗贅。
以你原稿的最重要訊息或特點做開始。你可以重點指出研究的新意，或介紹你所採用方法如何創新，也可以簡述結論的長處。你也可以闡明原稿如何符合目標期刊的目標和範圍，指出你研究的實用和理論影響如何與特定讀者群息息相關。
✓ Our 2-year trial of Z for X among Y shows that delaying Z administration to bedtime doubles its efficacy. This shift in timing is a simple, safe, and cost-effective way to increase drug efficacy and reduce X prevalence. The results are robust and applicable worldwide, given the strong study design (randomised cross-over trial of 1 million patients in 5 continents), and would be immediately useful for health care professionals who read Journal Name.
✗ X is a horrendous affliction affecting half of Y. Currently, the most common treatment regimen for X is Z, but it is sadly only of 50% clinical efficaciousness. This milestone clinical investigation aimed to achieve a massive reduction in morbidity and mortality by effecting a great improvement in the effectiveness of Z as treatment of X among Y. Utilising a groundbreaking chronotherapeutic modality approach, we carefully designed a randomised cross-over trial…
在兩頁長的封面函中，可進一步說明你為什麼懇請考慮在某指定文章種類發表作品，又或提供希望加快刊登的理據；你也可以加入其他相關或具深入見解的資料。然而，請勿要求豁免投稿或出版費用，也不要建議由或不由哪位準審稿人進行審閱，除非期刊准許或要求你這樣做（見下一節）。
某些期刊可能要求你在封面函中提供特定資料，最常見的相關資料包括：
● 原作者
● 資金、利益衝突
● 渉及人類或動物實驗的道德許可
● 臨床試驗註冊
● 數據可用性或共享
● 如原稿獲接納，所有作者是否願意把版權轉移給期刊
某些期刊會要求你表明原稿曾否被其他期刊拒絕，如屬此情況便須附上上次審稿的報告和你的逐點回應。某些期刊也要求提供：
● 所提交原稿所有作者的姓名和關聯機構
● 字數和圖表總數
● 補充檔案的數目和大小
● 作者是否願意支付彩頁費用
● 作者是否願意支付彩頁費用
期刊也可能會要求或建議你列出可擔任中立審稿工作的同行審稿人名單（包括所屬機構和電郵地址 ），和／或你認為不應邀請擔任審稿人的名單和理由。你也可能被要求從期刊網站的名單中，提名可以處理特定課題的副主編／學術編輯。你也可能被要求限定可用審稿模式（例如單或雙匿名，或開放身份審稿），指明選用哪一種同行審稿的模式。
因此，請務必細閱期刊的作者須知（Instructions for Authors）頁。
舉例來說，要滿足 PLOS ONE 的要求「提供任何不應擔任審稿人的名單」，你可以這樣寫：
✓ We request that Prof X from the University of Y not be invited as a peer reviewer, because the journal uses double-anonymised review, but we recently sent her a non-anonymised draft of our manuscript for informal pre-submission review.
✗ Please under no circumstances whatsoever, don’t send our paper to Prof X from the University of Y to review because she gave us a really negative review for another paper in another journal 3 years ago.
滿足期刊對封面函的所有要求和投稿要求（例如原作者／供稿作者和其他聲明；版權轉移表格；期刊有否要求原稿除了標題頁外需不具名；或附帶圖表是否需要以獨立文檔提交），將可令你的出版旅程更加暢順，也可避免因為重新投稿所致的延誤。
封面函末段應寫上幾乎所有期刊都預期你納入的標準聲明。例如：
● 表明所有作者均已同意向目標期刊投交原稿的聲明：
● 本文所有作者均已細閱及通過本原稿，並同意向《期刊名稱》投稿。（All authors have read and approved the manuscript and have agreed to submit it to Journal Name.）
● 有關原創性和僅向該期刊投稿的聲明：
● 本原稿此前從未發表，且並沒有由其他期刊考慮。（The manuscript has not been previously published and is not being considered by another journal for publication.）
● 有關使用有版權資料已獲許可的聲明：
● 本原稿附有Chan et al. (2020) 發表的圖表，並已獲准在本原稿複製該圖表。（Our manuscript includes a figure published by Chan et al. (2020). We have obtained the necessary permission to reproduce the figure in our manuscript.）
● 誰是通訊作者：
● 請注意我是本投稿的指定通訊作者。（Please note that I am the designated Corresponding Author for this submission.）
最後，以專業的文筆感謝編輯審閱你的投稿，但不要使用過份奉承或誠意不足的語氣。
✓ We thank you for considering our submission and we look forward to hearing from you.
✗ We are extremely indebted to you for graciously considering this humble manuscript for possible publication in your highly esteemed journal. Please reply soonest! Thanks!
請檢查你的目標期刊有否要求你作出聲明，並附上籌備中、已向其他期刊投稿、已向預印本網站投稿，或此前已在學術會議上發表的其他類似原稿副本。查明你的目標期刊會否視預印本發表為已曾出版。
封面函應以專業方式簽署和附上適當結語，並提供完整聯絡資料（包括：郵寄地址、傳真號碼、電話號碼、電郵地址）。例如：
Yours sincerely,
[First and Last Name of Corresponding Author]
Job title
Department of _________
University of ________
University address
Fax:
Phone:
Email:
如果你在上款未有寫上收件人姓名，而用了編輯職銜，結語便不應使用「Yours sincerely」而是換成「Yours faithfully」。
| 步驟 | 任務 | 重點 |
| 1 | 注意上款稱謂，顯示專業細心 | 找出期刊編輯的名字並以此為上款稱謂，而不是使用通用開首問候語。 |
| 2 | 簡列原稿重點 | 自我介紹（選填，因為你的簽名／地址已清楚顯示有關資料），列明原稿標題和投稿種類。 |
| 3 | 概述你的研究，並解釋你的原稿如何符合文章的主旨和範疇 | 切勿一字不漏地重覆摘要。 |
| 4 | 滿足期刊特定要求 | 請細閱作者須知，因為你可能需要提供某些指定資料，例如審稿人推薦名單。 |
| 5 | 標準聲明 | 在信中附上關於向期刊投稿的一致決定、原創性、版權問題、通訊作者等的聲明，並專業地感謝編輯。 |
| 6 | 專業結語 | 提供你的完整聯絡資料。 |
只要按照上述指引，你便可以寫出一封得體有效的封面函。預祝你投稿成功！如果你需要其他編輯上的協助，歡迎電郵至 cs@asiaedit.com 聯絡我們。
我們草擬了一份原稿投稿封面函供你下載。封面函以美式英語撰寫和附上有用註解，信中個案是虛構的，你可以自行修改細節。在定稿前，請按需要編輯或取代相關文字，並謹記刪除所有註解。別忘記用字行文要正規，但避免使用專門技術用詞和專業術語，縮略語可免則免，如需使用，請在其首次出現時以全寫表達。
Our latest online workshop built on the success of face-to-face workshops we developed specifically for local universities. Over 30 faculty members joined the session, presented by our Chief Operating Officer, Mr Nick Case, to learn from our case studies on editing research proposals.
The response to our workshop, which included a constructive and insightful Q&A session, was very positive.Drawing on our extensive experience working with hundreds of Hong Kong researchers targeting the GRF and ECS every year, we used examples of poor and subsequently improved proposals to show the attendees how they can make their applications stand out.
Wondering why some abbreviations such as ‘et al.’ and ‘e.g.’ use periods, whereas others such as CV and AD don’t? Periods are typically used if the abbreviations include lowercase or mixed-case letters. They’re usually not used with abbreviations containing only uppercase letters.
Our latest online workshop built on the success of face-to-face workshops we developed specifically for local universities. Over 30 faculty members joined the session, presented by our Chief Operating Officer, Mr Nick Case, to learn from our case studies on editing research proposals.
The response to our workshop, which included a constructive and insightful Q&A session, was very positive.Drawing on our extensive experience working with hundreds of Hong Kong researchers targeting the GRF and ECS every year, we used examples of poor and subsequently improved proposals to show the attendees how they can make their applications stand out. The response to our workshop, which included a constructive and insightful Q&A session, was very positive.Drawing on our extensive experience working with hundreds of Hong Kong researchers targeting the GRF and ECS every year, we used examples of poor and subsequently improved proposals to show the attendees how they can make their applications stand out. The response to our workshop, which included a constructive and insightful Q&A session, was very positive.Drawing on our extensive experience working with hundreds of Hong Kong researchers targeting the GRF and ECS every year, we used examples of poor and subsequently improved proposals to show the attendees how they can make their applications stand out.
Wondering why some abbreviations such as ‘et al.’ and ‘e.g.’ use periods, whereas others such as CV and AD don’t? Periods are typically used if the abbreviations include lowercase or mixed-case letters. They’re usually not used with abbreviations containing only uppercase letters.
Felix是一位獲BELS認證的學術編輯，並在編輯運營和管理方面擁有十年的經驗。他對科學交流充滿熱情，並以幫助科研人員宣傳他們的工作而感到自豪。Felix自2020年5月起加入AsiaEdit
除了本文作者， Rachel Baron博士（AsiaEdit聯席總編輯）與Trevor Lane博士（AsiaEdit教育顧問）均為本博客帖文提供了很多寶貴意見。
您的日程安排，我們最關切 AsiaEdit 採用個性化的編修方法。
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