Title of the paper and corresponding author details: It may seem obvious to include these details, but ensure you do mention them in your cover letter.

Summary of your findings: Summarize the most important findings of your study without being too technical. You can use address the following questions to highlight the significance of your study:

Motivation for submitting to the journal: Include a line or two about how your study is within the scope of the journal and what about the study would be of interest to the journal’s readership.

Ethical approval: If there are any ethical issues, mention whether your study was approved by the institutional review board. In case of clinical trials, mention that informed consent was obtained, and provide the registration/approval number (some journals especially ask for this).

Conflict of interest: Mention whether there are any potential conflicts of interests.

Originality and author agreement: State that the manuscript is not under consideration for publication by another journal and that all the authors have read the manuscript and agreed to submit it to that journal.

Preferred and non-preferred reviewers: Most journals encourage authors to mention their preferred reviewers because this may help to expedite the review process. Authors should choose reviewers wisely, ensuring that they have no conflicts of interest. Also mention any reviewers who should definitely not be appointed because of an existing conflict of interest. Note that the final choice of reviewers rests entirely with the journal editor, who may or may not accept your suggestions.