Journal submission cover letter: length and references I wrote a cover letter that takes 2 pages: 1 for the main text explaining the purpose of the research and why it is important, and 1 consisting of my name and institutional details plus references.

1) Should a cover letter be of 1 page maximum in general? 
It is not mentioned the journal's website. If this is the case, I guess I should play with the font size and line spacing.

2) Is it ok to include two citations to emphasize my writing?
I included the two references right after mentioning my institutional details.
Shouldn't "explaining the purpose of the research and why it's important" be in the paper's abstract and introduction rather than in the cover letter? I'm accustomed to cover letters of the form "Dear [Editor's name], I would like to submit the [enclosed in the old days / attached nowadays] paper, [title of paper], for publication in [name of journal].  Sincerely, [name of author]".