A pre-submission inquiry is a short message sent to a journal’s editor-in-chief or handling editor before a manuscript is formally submitted, asking whether the study would be considered a good fit for review. It exists to answer one narrow question—does this paper belong in this journal?—before an author invests time reformatting a manuscript to house style, paying a submission fee, or waiting through an editorial queue for what turns out to be a scope-based rejection.
This is a different document from a cover letter for journal submission, which accompanies a completed manuscript and is a standard, often required, part of the submission package itself. A pre-submission inquiry comes earlier, is optional at most journals, is much shorter, and is sent without a finished manuscript attached. If you’re looking for guidance on the letter that goes out with a full submission, see Journal Cover Letter: A Worked, Annotated Example and the cover-letter comparison across major publishers.
When to Send a Pre-Submission Inquiry
A pre-submission inquiry is most useful when:
- The target journal is highly selective and evaluates submissions partly on novelty or broad interest, not only methodological soundness—so a scope mismatch is a real risk even for solid work.
- The study is interdisciplinary or doesn’t map cleanly onto the journal’s usual article types, and it’s genuinely unclear whether it fits.
- The journal’s own author guidelines explicitly invite pre-submission inquiries for the article type in question. Nature, for example, states that presubmission enquiries are offered as an author service and are specifically invited for Reviews and Perspectives, though not required for Articles.
- Reformatting to the journal’s specific requirements (reference style, word limits, structured abstract format) would take real effort you’d rather not spend twice.
It’s less useful, and sometimes actively discouraged, when the target journal uses criteria-based review rather than novelty-based selection—broad-scope journals that accept any methodologically sound work within a wide subject area typically don’t need a pre-submission check, because there’s no editorial judgment call to pre-empt. It’s also unnecessary once the manuscript is essentially complete and submission-ready: at that point, sending the full manuscript through the journal’s normal system is usually the more direct path, since the editor will need to see it eventually regardless of the inquiry’s outcome.
What to Include
Keep it to the minimum an editor needs to make a scope judgment:
- A short cover paragraph stating why the work would interest the journal’s readership specifically—not why it’s important in general.
- A brief, referenced summary of the study’s aims, approach, and key finding or argument—a paragraph, not a full abstract. Nature’s own presubmission enquiry guidelines ask for a “fully referenced summary paragraph” plus a reference list, which is a reasonable model even for journals with no formal inquiry process of their own.
- An explicit statement of fit—how the paper connects to the journal’s stated aims and scope, ideally naming the section or article type it would fall under.
- Basic manuscript details if the journal’s guidelines ask for them: proposed article type, approximate length, and the corresponding author’s contact information.
What to Leave Out
A pre-submission inquiry is not a miniature submission. Skip:
- A full abstract, results tables, or figures—these belong in the manuscript itself, not the inquiry.
- Exhaustive literature review or methodological detail beyond what’s needed to judge scope and significance.
- Any request for a binding acceptance decision. Editors are assessing likely interest, not pre-reviewing the science; a positive response is an invitation to submit, not a guarantee of acceptance after peer review.
- Overselling language (“groundbreaking,” “unprecedented”). Editors read many of these; a precise, factual summary of the actual contribution reads better than adjectives.
Format, Length, and Where to Send It
Most pre-submission inquiries run well under a page—roughly 300–500 words is typical, though word limits vary by journal, so check the author guidelines first. Some journals provide a dedicated online form for presubmission enquiries; others simply ask authors to email the handling editor or editorial office directly. Never guess at this—check the specific journal’s “for authors” or submission-guidelines page before sending anything, since the format an editor expects is itself part of what a mismatched inquiry signals.
How Editors Typically Respond
Response times and policies vary by journal, but Nature’s published presubmission enquiry guidance is a useful concrete reference point: replies typically arrive within about two working days, though speed isn’t guaranteed, and editors will not enter into further discussion about a negative response. Authors who receive a discouraging reply are still free to submit the full manuscript formally if they choose—a negative pre-submission response is informal editorial judgment, not a gatekeeping decision with procedural weight.
Two things worth keeping in mind about any response: it’s non-binding in both directions (a positive reply doesn’t bind the journal to accept the eventual manuscript, and it doesn’t go through peer review at the inquiry stage), and it mainly protects against scope-based desk rejection—it does nothing to reduce the risk of rejection after review on methodological or interpretive grounds. See Desk Rejection: What It Means and How to Avoid It for the broader set of reasons editors reject manuscripts without sending them out for review.
A Simple Structural Outline
There’s no single template every journal expects, but most pre-submission inquiries follow roughly this structure. This is a structural outline, not a worked example with invented study content—fill each part in with your own study’s actual details:
- Salutation, addressed to the editor by name where the journal’s masthead or website lists one, rather than a generic “Dear Editor.”
- Opening paragraph stating the purpose of the message (a presubmission enquiry about a manuscript in preparation) and one sentence on the study’s topic.
- Summary paragraph covering the research question, approach, and principal finding or argument, with key claims referenced.
- Fit paragraph connecting the study directly to the journal’s scope, readership, or a comparable paper it has previously published.
- Closing, offering to provide the full manuscript or additional detail on request, with the corresponding author’s contact information.
Pre-Submission Inquiry vs. Cover Letter
| Pre-submission inquiry | Cover letter | |
|---|---|---|
| Timing | Before the manuscript is finished or formatted | Submitted alongside the completed manuscript |
| Required? | Optional at most journals; check author guidelines | Usually required as part of the submission package |
| Length | ~300–500 words | Typically one page |
| Purpose | Gauge scope/interest fit before investing further effort | Formally present the completed manuscript and any editor-facing disclosures |
| Manuscript attached? | No | Yes, as part of the same submission |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a pre-submission inquiry the same thing as a cover letter?
No. A cover letter accompanies a finished manuscript and is a standard, often required, part of the submission itself. A pre-submission inquiry is sent earlier, without a manuscript attached, purely to check scope fit. See Cover Letter for Journal Submission for the latter.
Do all journals accept pre-submission inquiries?
No. Policies vary widely. Some journals explicitly invite them for certain article types (Nature does so for Reviews and Perspectives), others provide a dedicated form, and others don’t address the practice at all in their author guidelines—in which case it’s safer to email the editorial office directly or simply proceed to formal submission. Always check the specific journal’s current author guidelines rather than assuming a general norm applies.
What if the editor never responds?
If a reasonable amount of time has passed (Nature’s own benchmark is about two working days, though other journals may take longer or not commit to a timeframe at all) and the journal’s guidelines don’t describe a formal inquiry process, it’s reasonable to proceed with standard submission rather than wait indefinitely.
Does a positive response guarantee acceptance?
No. A positive pre-submission response is an invitation to submit and an informal signal of scope fit, not a peer-review outcome. The manuscript will still go through the journal’s normal editorial and review process once formally submitted, and can still be rejected at any stage of that process.
Can I send the same pre-submission inquiry to multiple journals at once?
This isn’t addressed uniformly across journals the way simultaneous full-manuscript submission is (which is broadly prohibited). Because a pre-submission inquiry doesn’t involve peer review or an editorial commitment of resources, sequential rather than simultaneous inquiries to a short list of realistic target journals is the more conservative approach, and avoids any appearance of shopping the same claim of interest to competitors at once.
Related CASRAI Resources
- Cover Letter for Journal Submission (dictionary term)
- Journal Cover Letter: A Worked, Annotated Example (guide)
- Cover Letters by Publisher: Nature vs. Elsevier vs. Wiley vs. Springer (comparison)
- Desk Rejection: What It Means and How to Avoid It (guide)
- Desk Rejection (dictionary term)
- Corresponding Author (dictionary term)
- Scholarly Writing & Publishing Craft (pillar)
