| name | dr-cook:cover-letter-writer |
| description | Draft professional journal submission cover letters for manuscript submission. Use when users need a cover letter, submission letter, journal cover letter, or want to submit a manuscript to a journal. Triggers on: cover letter, submission letter, journal cover letter, manuscript submission, write cover letter, draft cover letter, cover letter for journal, 投稿信, 期刊投稿, 投稿函. Do NOT trigger for: rebuttal-writer (revision response letters to reviewers), grant-writer (grant proposal writing).
|
cover-letter-writer
1. Overview
cover-letter-writer drafts professional journal submission cover letters. Two modes: standard mode produces a complete cover letter for a first submission to a target journal; revision mode produces the shorter cover letter that accompanies a revised manuscript, referencing the prior review round and summarizing key changes. The module is designed as the final step of the /cook submit pipeline, receiving manuscript context from paper-writer and citation-checker outputs. When upstream context is available, parameters such as target_journal, domain, manuscript_type, key_findings, and raw_text are inherited automatically without re-prompting the user.
2. Parameters
Required
| Parameter | Values | Description |
|---|
manuscript_title | string | Full title of the manuscript as it appears in the submission. |
target_journal | string | Name of the journal to which the manuscript is being submitted. |
Optional
| Parameter | Values | Description |
|---|
mode | standard | revision (default: standard) | standard = first submission cover letter; revision = cover letter accompanying a revised manuscript. |
manuscript_type | research_article | review | case_report | letter | other (default: research_article) | Manuscript type affects paragraph emphasis and length norms. |
domain | tcm | bioinformatics | clinical | pharmacology | Research domain. Affects terminology and ethics statement phrasing. Inherited from upstream if available. |
key_findings | string | 2–3 sentence summary of the manuscript's main findings. Can be inherited from upstream or auto-extracted from raw_text. |
authors | string | Author list for signing the letter. |
corresponding_author | string | Name and email of the corresponding author. |
language | en | zh (default: en) | Output language. Almost all cover letters are written in English even for Chinese journals; zh is available but rarely appropriate. |
Parameter collection rule
Inherit all available values from context_output before asking the user. Collect only what remains missing, starting with manuscript_title then target_journal then mode.
3. Workflow
Step 1 — Check upstream context.
Inspect context_output before asking the user anything. Extract without re-asking: parameters.target_journal, parameters.domain, parameters.manuscript_type, key_findings, and raw_text. If upstream status is failed, halt. If partial, proceed with a warning.
Language override: Cover letters are almost always written in English regardless of upstream language value. If inherited language is zh, override to en for this module unless the user explicitly specifies language: zh.
Step 2 — Collect missing required parameters.
Ask for manuscript_title if absent. Ask for target_journal if not inherited. Ask for mode if unclear: "Is this a first submission (standard) or a resubmission (revision)?" For revision mode only: ask for 1–2 sentences summarizing key changes.
Step 3 — Collect or extract key findings.
If key_findings is absent from both user input and context_output, check for raw_text from an upstream module. If present, auto-extract 2–3 key findings and confirm: "I extracted the following findings — please confirm or revise: [findings]." If neither source is available, ask the user for a 2–3 sentence summary of main findings.
Step 4 — Load journal norms.
Read references/journal-submission-norms.md. Identify the journal's tier, length expectations, required statements, and suggested reviewer expectations.
Step 5 — Draft the cover letter.
Standard mode (4 paragraphs):
- Opening: "Dear Editor," or "Dear Dr. [Name],"
- Para 1 (2–3 sentences): Submit
[manuscript title], type [manuscript type], to [journal name].
- Para 2 (3–5 sentences): Key findings and significance — why this matters to journal readership.
- Para 3 (2–3 sentences): Novelty — what this work adds that prior literature did not address.
- Para 4 (2–3 sentences): Exclusivity, author approval, conflicts of interest. Before prompting the user, scan
context_output.raw_text for ethics/IACUC approval details (look for patterns: "approved by", "IRB", "IACUC", "ethics committee", "approval number"). If found, extract and use them directly without asking. For studies involving human participants or animal subjects (any domain including tcm): include ethics/IACUC approval with institution name and number. If manuscript_type is research_article or case_report and the study involves human or animal subjects but no ethics info has been provided, stop and ask: "Please provide your ethics approval number (e.g., IRB #XXXX or IACUC #XXXX) and approving institution before I draft the letter."
- Closing: "We look forward to hearing from you." + "Sincerely," + corresponding author name/email.
Revision mode (3 paragraphs):
- Opening: Reference manuscript ID; "Thank you for the opportunity to revise."
- Para 1 (2–3 sentences): Revised version submitted in response to reviewer comments; name 2–3 key changes.
- Para 2 (2 sentences): Appreciation to reviewers; state that a point-by-point response is enclosed.
- Closing: Same as standard.
Step 6 — Present output and offer iteration.
Display the complete cover letter. Then ask: "Would you like me to adjust the tone, add a suggested reviewer block, or translate to Chinese?"
4. Output Format
No [Module: ...] header — cover letters must read as actual professional letters.
[Date]
The Editorial Office
[Journal Name]
Dear Editor,
[Para 1 — Submission statement: 2–3 sentences]
[Para 2 — Key findings and significance: 3–5 sentences]
[Para 3 — Novelty statement: 2–3 sentences]
[Para 4 — Declarations: exclusivity, author approval, COI, and ethics if applicable]
We look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
[Corresponding Author Name]
[Email]
[Word count: 287]
- No bullet points within the letter body. All content is prose.
- Date line:
[Date] placeholder unless the user provides an actual date.
- Address block uses journal-specific format from
journal-submission-norms.md or generic The Editorial Office, [Journal Name].
- Word count at end:
[Word count: NNN]. Word count includes all text from the opening salutation through the closing signature block; exclude the date line, address block, and the [Word count: NNN] line itself.
5. context_output
Reads from upstream
| Field | Source | Usage |
|---|
parameters.target_journal | citation-checker, paper-writer, any upstream module | Maps directly to target_journal; not re-asked if present |
parameters.domain | any upstream module | Determines ethics statement phrasing and domain-appropriate terminology |
parameters.manuscript_type | paper-writer | Sets manuscript type without re-asking |
key_findings | literature-reviewer, research-gap-finder | Used as Paragraph 2 source material |
raw_text | paper-writer, english-polisher | Auto-extraction of key findings if key_findings is absent |
Writes to output
{
"module": "cover-letter-writer",
"summary": "Standard cover letter for Nature Medicine, research article, TCM domain",
"raw_text": "<complete cover letter text>",
"parameters": {
"target_journal": "<journal name>",
"mode": "standard | revision",
"manuscript_type": "research_article | review | case_report | letter | other",
"domain": "<domain or null>",
"language": "en | zh"
},
"status": "success | partial | failed",
"error_message": "string | null"
}
Downstream readers of raw_text: english-polisher, chinese-polisher.
6. References
See references/ for:
journal-submission-norms.md — Journal tier classifications, cover letter length expectations, required statement templates, suggested reviewer format, and common cover letter mistakes
