How to prepare a proposal for a review article

1 hr

Matt Pavlovich

Andrea Stephens

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About this video

At many journals, the process for submitting a review article is much different from the process for a research article: rather than uploading your research manuscript and clicking Submit, it might only be possible to submit a review article by invitation or prior consultation with an editor. In that case, a journal will usually ask authors to first send a proposal that introduces the review article. Common elements of proposals, which are sometimes also called pre-submission inquiries, include a concise description of the intended article, an explanation of why it’s a good fit with the journal, a list of key research articles on the topic, and perhaps a summary of the intended audience or the authors’ own expertise in the topic.

This webinar gives some insights from a reviews editor on what makes a compelling proposal, including some common mistakes to avoid, how a proposal is different from a cover letter, and the importance of customizing your proposal for your intended journal.

About the presenters

Matt Pavlovich

Editor of Trends in Biotechnology, Cell Press

Matt Pavlovich is the editor of Trends in Biotechnology, Cell Press’s home for reviews in applied biology. He earned his BS in chemical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and his PhD in chemical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, where he studied the biological effects of air plasmas. He studied analytical chemistry as a postdoctoral researcher at Northeastern University, then joined Cell Press at the start of 2016. Matt is a senior manager in the Trends group and a part of the editorial teams for the Cell Press Podcast and Cell Mentor.

Andrea Stephens

Editor of Trends in Ecology and Evolution

Andrea Stephens received her PhD from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada where she studied insect-plant interactions in an invasive weed. This continued her interest in invasion biology she had developed while working as a Research Associate at Plant and Food Research in New Zealand. Following her PhD, she moved to Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia for a post-doc looking at plant defences and then back to the Northern Hemisphere for a second post-doc at the University of Oxford. She joined Cell Press in November 2018.