# Paper Cover Letter > Draft, revise, or diagnose an academic journal cover letter (submission letter to the editor) once the manuscript is essentially complete. Use for the submission statement, a non-overclaiming contribution summary, scope-fit argument for the target journal, originality and ethics declarations, suggested or opposed reviewers, and corresponding-author details. Reuse the manuscript's established problem and contributions instead of inventing them; defer final language polishing to paper-polisher. - Skill: `yujie-jason-zhang/paper-cover-letter` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add yujie-jason-zhang/paper-cover-letter` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/yujie-jason-zhang/paper-cover-letter/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: yujie-jason-zhang (https://skillmd.com/u/yujie-jason-zhang) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/yujie-jason-zhang/paper-cover-letter --- # Paper Cover Letter ## Scope Use this skill when the manuscript is essentially complete and the user needs the letter that accompanies a journal submission: a new submission, a resubmission, or the cover note for a revised manuscript. Read `references/cover_letter_guide.md` for move-by-move templates, length registers, placeholder rules, and the declaration block before drafting a full letter. For a one-line tweak, the core rules below are enough. Use another skill when the task is primarily: - a point-by-point response to reviewer comments or a rebuttal: use `paper-response-to-reviewers` (if available); that is a separate task, not a cover letter; - manuscript storyline, contribution framing, or section structure: use `paper-argument-reconstructor` (if available) to settle the contributions first; - TeX-safe or final-language polishing of the letter text: use `paper-polisher` (if available) for the closing pass; - novelty-risk auditing of the underlying idea: use `idea-novelty-auditor` (if available). A cover letter reuses contributions that the manuscript already supports. It does not establish new ones. ## Verification Mode This skill has two modes. By default it drafts the letter as described above. When the input is a cover letter another tool or skill has already drafted, switch to verification mode instead of regenerating: - do not overwrite the other tool's wording; - check it against this skill's rules: no overclaiming, novelty kept hedged, ethics statements treated as facts to confirm rather than assumed, and placeholders for every unconfirmed specific; - report only the deviations; fix one in place only if it breaks a hard rule. The suite's value is faithful, bounded output, not a competing rewrite. Verify rather than replace what a stronger generator already produced. ## Non-Negotiable Rules - Do not invent contributions, results, novelty, or journal-scope claims that the manuscript or the user does not support. - Treat every originality and ethics statement as a factual claim: no prior publication, no concurrent submission, all-author approval, conflict-of-interest status, funding, and data availability. Do not assert these on the user's behalf. Insert them only when the user confirms them; otherwise leave an explicit `[...]` placeholder and flag it. - Do not overclaim. Keep novelty hedged (for example, "to the best of our knowledge") and tie any superiority to the evaluated conditions, mirroring the manuscript's own claim boundaries. - Leave every unconfirmed specific as a `[...]` placeholder: editor name, journal name, manuscript ID, article type, author names, emails, and dates. Do not fabricate them. - Preserve the manuscript's terminology and claim strength. The letter must not promise more than the paper delivers. ## Rule-Conflict Escalation If the user asks the letter to assert an ethics fact, a novelty claim, or a scope-fit statement that the source does not support, stop and ask before writing it. If your own draft drifts into overclaiming, revise it back into bounded language without asking. ## Workflow 1. Confirm the target journal, manuscript title, article type, and submission stage (new, resubmission, or revision). 2. Pull the core problem and contributions from the manuscript or from `paper-argument-reconstructor` output. Do not re-derive or inflate them. 3. Choose a length register: concise (a few sentences) or detailed (mechanism, effect, and readership). Default to concise. Use detailed only when the user explicitly requests it or a confirmed journal requirement or norm calls for a fuller letter. 4. Assemble the moves in order, inserting a placeholder for every unconfirmed fact. 5. Run the pre-send check: no overclaim, ethics statements confirmed or placeheld, scope-fit naming the actual journal, no fabricated specifics. 6. If the user wants a final language pass, hand the assembled letter to `paper-polisher`. ## Cover Letter Moves Summary only; see `references/cover_letter_guide.md` for templates. 1. Salutation and submission statement: title, article type, target journal. 2. Core contribution: problem, approach, and main result, hedged. 3. Scope fit with the target journal and its readership. 4. Originality and ethics declarations: confirmed or placeheld. 5. Optional: suggested or opposed reviewers, related or concurrent submissions, prior editorial contact. 6. Corresponding-author correspondence details. 7. Closing. Moves 3 and 4 may swap order. Keep whichever order the target journal expects. ## Output Modes For a new draft, return: 1. The letter, with an explicit `[...]` placeholder for every unconfirmed fact. 2. A short list of the placeholders the user must fill, marking which are ethics facts that only the authors can confirm. For diagnosis of an existing letter, return: 1. Overclaims and unsupported novelty or scope assertions. 2. Missing or unconfirmed ethics declarations. 3. Structural gaps against the standard moves. 4. A revised version that keeps claims bounded. For a letter that must be returned paste-ready, run a final `paper-polisher` pass if available.