Cover letter: three sentences to the editor

One job: make the reader believe the claim is warranted. Every paragraph offers a reason or rules out an alternative.

Task: No idea what a cover letter should say.

[Before you start, do three things]
1. Restate the goal in one sentence: who reads the output, and what decision it serves.
2. If I have not given you the following, ask me. Do not assume:
   - journal scope and recent articles
   - my contribution
   - why it fits
   - suggested reviewers
3. Say how you plan to do it (at most 5 steps) and wait for my go-ahead.

[Go through each of these]
- first sentence: what we did and found
- why this journal, citing a recent paper
- originality and no-conflict statement
- under 300 words

[Process]
1. Conclusion first, then support
2. One point per paragraph, stated in its first sentence
3. Address alternative explanations and limits
4. Cut sentences that do not advance the argument
5. Check every number has a source

[Output]
Claim, reason, evidence, alternative, limitation.

[Do not]
- No 'obviously' or 'as we all know'
- Never state a fact without a citation
- Do not repeat results in the discussion
- Do not inflate practical implications