Peer Review History
Original SubmissionSeptember 20, 2023 |
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PONE-D-23-30376Infant and Young Child Feeding practices among mothers in the pilot Micronutrient Powder Initiative in four geographically and ethnically diverse districts in GhanaPLOS ONE Dear Dr. Adu-Afarwuah, Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process. Please submit your revised manuscript by May 24 2024 11:59PM. If you will need more time than this to complete your revisions, please reply to this message or contact the journal office at plosone@plos.org. When you're ready to submit your revision, log on to https://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/ and select the 'Submissions Needing Revision' folder to locate your manuscript file. Please include the following items when submitting your revised manuscript:
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Kind regards, Veincent Christian Pepito Academic Editor PLOS ONE Journal requirements: 1. When submitting your revision, we need you to address these additional requirements. Please ensure that your manuscript meets PLOS ONE's style requirements, including those for file naming. The PLOS ONE style templates can be found at https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/file?id=wjVg/PLOSOne_formatting_sample_main_body.pdf and 2. Note from Emily Chenette, Editor in Chief of PLOS ONE, and Iain Hrynaszkiewicz, Director of Open Research Solutions at PLOS: Did you know that depositing data in a repository is associated with up to a 25% citation advantage (https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0230416)? If you’ve not already done so, consider depositing your raw data in a repository to ensure your work is read, appreciated and cited by the largest possible audience. You’ll also earn an Accessible Data icon on your published paper if you deposit your data in any participating repository (https://plos.org/open-science/open-data/#accessible-data). 3. We note that the grant information you provided in the ‘Funding Information’ and ‘Financial Disclosure’ sections do not match. When you resubmit, please ensure that you provide the correct grant numbers for the awards you received for your study in the ‘Funding Information’ section. 4. Thank you for stating the following financial disclosure: [This study was funded by a grant from the Government of Netherlands and UNICEF. UNICEF had a role in the decision to submit the results of this study.]. Please state what role the funders took in the study. If the funders had no role, please state: ""The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript."" If this statement is not correct you must amend it as needed. 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Please include captions for your Supporting Information files at the end of your manuscript, and update any in-text citations to match accordingly. Please see our Supporting Information guidelines for more information: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/supporting-information. Additional Editor Comments: Dear Authors, thanks for your manuscript. The manuscript has potential but has to be revised further to make it acceptable for publication. Here are my comments: 1. My main issue with the manuscript is the lack of conceptual framework that could guide the analysis. I do not know if there is any implicit conceptual framework that allowed you to categorize factors into motivators, facilitators, and barriers but this framework, whatever that is, should be explicitly mentioned. If you peruse COREQ or SRQR, this is one of the main requirements and this could make or break your paper. 2. There are many previous studies on the topic in Ghana. How is the current study addressing literature gaps or adding something new? https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0379572117742298 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10867453/ 3. There is no such thing as a cross-sectional qualitative study. A qualitative study could either be a phenomenology, grounded theory, case study, or ethnography, among others. Please clarify. 4. The tables and narratives are good now but you are telling instead of showing. In presenting qualitative studies, I would prefer authors that show, instead of tell. In practice, this means that I would like you to show the specific vignettes in addition to the narrative and tables in the manuscript. The reason for this is I want to make my own conclusions about the vignette or dialogue instead of taking the perspective of the author solely. 5. One thing that we found to be associated with IYCF practice is the way IYCF intervention was introduced to the mothers. Have you considered this possibility as well? https://internationalbreastfeedingjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13006-021-00400-5 6. The Discussion and Conclusion statements are weak and generic. Beyond comparing your findings to previous studies, please discuss the meaning of your findings for practice and policy there in Ghana. What interventions can be scaled up? What interventions should be scaled down? What misconceptions are present? What barriers should be addressed? What motivators and facilitators should be incentivized? What context-specific interventions should be developed from your findings? 7. Please have the manuscript reviewed by a native English speaker or an editor. 8. Please also add a reflexivity statement describing each of your backgrounds, assumptions, beliefs, and work experiences that could affect the work being presented. Please also address the comments of Reviewers 1 and 2. [Note: HTML markup is below. Please do not edit.] Reviewers' comments: Reviewer's Responses to Questions Comments to the Author 1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions? The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented. Reviewer #1: Yes Reviewer #2: Yes ********** 2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously? Reviewer #1: Yes Reviewer #2: Yes ********** 3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available? The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified. Reviewer #1: No Reviewer #2: Yes ********** 4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English? PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here. Reviewer #1: Yes Reviewer #2: No ********** 5. Review Comments to the Author Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters) Reviewer #1: The topic of the study was noteworthy as it addressed one of the most important public health issues both at the study site and elsewhere. The authors have organized the manuscript well and written it in clear language. However, the following points must be addressed: 1. Describe the number of themes extracted from the study in the abstract and the result section in the manuscript. 2. Try to avoid quantifying adherence to the qualitative inquiry. It may be good to write as follows: Mothers in Tolo District reported good adherence to IYCF. 3. The study is about the participant’s perceived difficulties. Therefore, as much as possible, try to use words that represent qualitative expressions. For instance, instead of saying "hardest to practice,” use... was perceived as the hardest practice by the mothers. 4. It is better to start the result section with the sociodemographic and reproductive characteristics, followed by the number of themes extracted from the study. 5. Furthermore, each thematic area should be sequentially described. I suggest minor revisions to this part. 6. The number of women who supported the outcome (8 vs. 6) does not, in my opinion, differ statistically significantly enough to conclude that the practice was widespread. It is therefore recommended to utilize qualitative terminology to describe differences in practices. With regards! Reviewer #2: The manuscript is of important nature and the findings can be significant for gaining knowledge and producing more similar studies of longitudinal/causal relationships to improve nutritional and child care. However, there are several aspects of the document that need improving the descriptions plus the significance of findings. You will find several comments and suggestions in the attached file. ********** 6. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files. If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public. Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy. Reviewer #1: No Reviewer #2: Yes: Dr. Alfredo L. Fort ********** [NOTE: If reviewer comments were submitted as an attachment file, they will be attached to this email and accessible via the submission site. Please log into your account, locate the manuscript record, and check for the action link "View Attachments". If this link does not appear, there are no attachment files.] While revising your submission, please upload your figure files to the Preflight Analysis and Conversion Engine (PACE) digital diagnostic tool, https://pacev2.apexcovantage.com/. PACE helps ensure that figures meet PLOS requirements. To use PACE, you must first register as a user. Registration is free. Then, login and navigate to the UPLOAD tab, where you will find detailed instructions on how to use the tool. If you encounter any issues or have any questions when using PACE, please email PLOS at figures@plos.org. Please note that Supporting Information files do not need this step. |
Revision 1 |
Infant and Young Child Feeding practices among mothers in the pilot Micronutrient Powder Initiative in four geographically and ethnically diverse districts in Ghana PONE-D-23-30376R1 Dear Dr. Adu-Afarwuah, We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements. Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication. An invoice will be generated when your article is formally accepted. Please note, if your institution has a publishing partnership with PLOS and your article meets the relevant criteria, all or part of your publication costs will be covered. Please make sure your user information is up-to-date by logging into Editorial Manager at Editorial Manager® and clicking the ‘Update My Information' link at the top of the page. If you have any questions relating to publication charges, please contact our Author Billing department directly at authorbilling@plos.org. If your institution or institutions have a press office, please notify them about your upcoming paper to help maximize its impact. If they’ll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team as soon as possible -- no later than 48 hours after receiving the formal acceptance. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information, please contact onepress@plos.org. Kind regards, Veincent Christian Pepito Academic Editor PLOS ONE Additional Editor Comments (optional): Reviewers' comments: Reviewer's Responses to Questions Comments to the Author 1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation. Reviewer #2: All comments have been addressed ********** 2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions? The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented. Reviewer #2: Yes ********** 3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously? Reviewer #2: N/A ********** 4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available? The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified. Reviewer #2: Yes ********** 5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English? PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here. Reviewer #2: Yes ********** 6. Review Comments to the Author Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters) Reviewer #2: The authors have added several examples of comments made by respondents, which have added substance to the findings. They have also improved on the expressions and descriptions for more clarity to viewers, which is good. I have included a few additional suggestions in the attached file. ********** 7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files. If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public. Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy. Reviewer #2: Yes: Dr. Alfredo L. Fort ********** |
Formally Accepted |
PONE-D-23-30376R1 PLOS ONE Dear Dr. Adu-Afarwuah, I'm pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been deemed suitable for publication in PLOS ONE. Congratulations! Your manuscript is now being handed over to our production team. At this stage, our production department will prepare your paper for publication. This includes ensuring the following: * All references, tables, and figures are properly cited * All relevant supporting information is included in the manuscript submission, * There are no issues that prevent the paper from being properly typeset If revisions are needed, the production department will contact you directly to resolve them. If no revisions are needed, you will receive an email when the publication date has been set. At this time, we do not offer pre-publication proofs to authors during production of the accepted work. Please keep in mind that we are working through a large volume of accepted articles, so please give us a few weeks to review your paper and let you know the next and final steps. Lastly, if your institution or institutions have a press office, please let them know about your upcoming paper now to help maximize its impact. If they'll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team within the next 48 hours. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information, please contact onepress@plos.org. If we can help with anything else, please email us at customercare@plos.org. Thank you for submitting your work to PLOS ONE and supporting open access. Kind regards, PLOS ONE Editorial Office Staff on behalf of Mr Veincent Christian Pepito Academic Editor PLOS ONE |
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