Remote Sensing Cover Letter: What Editors Actually Need to See
Remote Sensing editors screen for geospatial relevance and section fit before anything else. A cover letter that names the section and states a clear remote-sensing result moves through triage fastest.
Senior Researcher, Chemistry
Author context
Specializes in manuscript preparation and peer review strategy for chemistry journals, with deep experience evaluating submissions to JACS, Angewandte Chemie, Chemical Reviews, and ACS-family journals.
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How to use this page well
These pages work best when they behave like tools, not essays. Use the quick structure first, then apply it to the exact journal and manuscript situation.
Question | What to do |
|---|---|
Use this page for | Getting the structure, tone, and decision logic right before you send anything out. |
Most important move | Make the reviewer-facing or editor-facing ask obvious early rather than burying it in prose. |
Common mistake | Turning a practical page into a long explanation instead of a working template or checklist. |
Next step | Use the page as a tool, then adjust it to the exact manuscript and journal situation. |
Quick answer: a strong Remote Sensing cover letter names the target MDPI section, states a clear remote-sensing result or methodological advance, and shows the submission is complete. The journal covers everything from SAR to hyperspectral to LiDAR applications, so the editor needs routing clarity fast.
What the official sources do and do not tell you
The official Remote Sensing pages describe the MDPI submission workflow and list section scopes, but they do not prescribe a specific cover-letter format.
What the journal model does imply is clear:
- the manuscript should be recognizably about remote sensing, either its methods or its applications
- the editor needs to know which section the paper targets
- the letter should reduce friction in a fast editorial workflow
That means section selection and remote-sensing focus matter more here than broad impact claims.
What the editor is really screening for
At triage, the academic editor is usually asking:
- is this paper about remote sensing, or is it a domain-science paper that happens to use satellite data as input?
- does it fit the section the author selected?
- is the remote-sensing contribution clear, whether methodological, algorithmic, or application-focused?
- does the submission look complete enough to send to reviewers without extra back-and-forth?
A cover letter that answers these questions in the opening paragraph clears triage fastest.
A practical template you can adapt
Dear Editor,
We submit the manuscript "[TITLE]" for consideration in the
[SECTION NAME] section of Remote Sensing.
This study addresses [specific remote-sensing problem or
application]. We show that [main result], using [sensor, data
type, or method] with relevance to [application domain].
The manuscript fits Remote Sensing because the core contribution
is a remote-sensing [method / algorithm / validation / application]
rather than a purely domain-specific finding. We selected the
[SECTION NAME] section because [one-sentence justification].
The work is original, not under consideration elsewhere, and
approved by all authors.
Sincerely,
[Name]The critical sentence distinguishes a remote-sensing paper from a domain paper that merely uses remote-sensing data.
Mistakes that make these letters weak
- never specifying the target section in a multi-section MDPI journal
- framing the paper around the application domain without clarifying the remote-sensing advance
- describing the dataset used without stating what was found or improved
- making broad Earth-observation impact claims instead of stating a specific result
- submitting a paper whose real contribution is ecological modeling or land-use policy, not remote sensing
These mistakes slow triage or trigger desk rejection.
What should drive the submission decision instead
Before polishing the letter further, confirm the journal fit. Remote Sensing is a remote-sensing journal, not a general geoscience or ecology journal. If the remote-sensing contribution of your work is not clear without explanation, the venue may be the real issue. Check the journal's own author guidelines and browse recent papers in your target section to verify alignment.
Practical verdict
The strongest Remote Sensing cover letters are short, section-specific, and method- or application-focused. They tell the editor where to route the paper and what the remote-sensing contribution is.
So the useful takeaway is this: name your section, state the remote-sensing result, and keep the letter tight. A free Manusights scan is the fastest way to pressure-test that framing before submission.
Sources
- 1. Remote Sensing instructions for authors, MDPI.
- 2. Remote Sensing section list and scope, MDPI.
- 3. MDPI editorial process, MDPI.
- 4. MDPI publishing policies, MDPI.
Reference library
Use the core publishing datasets alongside this guide
This article answers one part of the publishing decision. The reference library covers the recurring questions that usually come next: how selective journals are, how long review takes, and what the submission requirements look like across journals.
Dataset / reference guide
Peer Review Timelines by Journal
Reference-grade journal timeline data that authors, labs, and writing centers can cite when discussing realistic review timing.
Dataset / benchmark
Biomedical Journal Acceptance Rates
A field-organized acceptance-rate guide that works as a neutral benchmark when authors are deciding how selective to target.
Reference table
Journal Submission Specs
A high-utility submission table covering word limits, figure caps, reference limits, and formatting expectations.
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