Peer Review History
Original SubmissionMarch 10, 2021 |
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PONE-D-21-07480 Association of polymorphisms of genes BMP2 and TMPRSS6 with iron deficiency status in Saudi Arabia PLOS ONE Dear Dr. Hawsawi, 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 pay particular attention to the criticisms raised by Reviewer2, including the problem with the English and the issue of genotype frequency discrepancy. Please submit your revised manuscript by Jun 19 2021 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:
If you would like to make changes to your financial disclosure, please include your updated statement in your cover letter. Guidelines for resubmitting your figure files are available below the reviewer comments at the end of this letter. If applicable, we recommend that you deposit your laboratory protocols in protocols.io to enhance the reproducibility of your results. Protocols.io assigns your protocol its own identifier (DOI) so that it can be cited independently in the future. For instructions see: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/submission-guidelines#loc-laboratory-protocols. Additionally, PLOS ONE offers an option for publishing peer-reviewed Lab Protocol articles, which describe protocols hosted on protocols.io. Read more information on sharing protocols at https://plos.org/protocols?utm_medium=editorial-email&utm_source=authorletters&utm_campaign=protocols. We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript. Kind regards, Cinzia Ciccacci Academic Editor PLOS ONE Journal Requirements: When submitting your revision, we need you to address these additional requirements. 1. 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. 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. 3. Your ethics statement should only appear in the Methods section of your manuscript. If your ethics statement is written in any section besides the Methods, please delete it from any other section. 4. Please include your tables as part of your main manuscript and remove the individual files. 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In your cover letter, please note whether your blot/gel image data are in Supporting Information or posted at a public data repository, provide the repository URL if relevant, and provide specific details as to which raw blot/gel images, if any, are not available. Email us at plosone@plos.org if you have any questions. 6. Thank you for stating the following in the Funding Section of your manuscript: [Deanship of Scientific Research (DSR), University of Tabuk, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.] We note that you have provided funding information that is not currently declared in your Funding Statement. However, funding information should not appear in the Acknowledgments section or other areas of your manuscript. We will only publish funding information present in the Funding Statement section of the online submission form. Please remove any funding-related text from the manuscript and let us know how you would like to update your Funding Statement. Currently, your Funding Statement reads as follows: [The author(s) received no specific funding for this work] Please include your amended statements within your cover letter; we will change the online submission form on your behalf. 7. Thank you for submitting the above manuscript to PLOS ONE. During our internal evaluation of the manuscript, we found significant text overlap between your submission and the following previously published works, some of which you are an author. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378111920304364?via%3Dihub We would like to make you aware that copying extracts from previous publications, especially outside the methods section, word-for-word is unacceptable. In addition, the reproduction of text from published reports has implications for the copyright that may apply to the publications. Please revise the manuscript to rephrase the duplicated text, cite your sources, and provide details as to how the current manuscript advances on previous work. Please note that further consideration is dependent on the submission of a manuscript that addresses these concerns about the overlap in text with published work. We will carefully review your manuscript upon resubmission, so please ensure that your revision is thorough. [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: Partly Reviewer #2: Partly ********** 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: No 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: Sample size is so small for PhD paper On which criteria you classified the students as healthy and iron deficient Have you made any questionnaire for participants? If yes provide it Provide consent form of participants for provision of blood samples Primers used for PCR are previously used or novelty designed What is m in the first line of discussion? Provide the form of ethical committee or institution review board of university Reviewer #2: The current study tried to assess the effects of TMPRSS6 and BMP2 SNP on the risk of iron deficiency anaemia in adult females from Saudi Arabia. The authors have done a great job in planning and executing this study. Both the study design and the results are is clear laid out. However, the article would require a complete review of the English grammar to make it suitable for publication. Here are my comments on the article: 1. The title should be reviewed for correctness. For example, “polymorphisms of genes TMPRSS6 and BMP2” may be written as SNPs within TMPRSS6 and BMP2 genes with iron deficiency…. 2. Introduction is unnecessarily long. Can be shortened to begin by talking about IDA and exclude general description of iron. 3. Why was TMPRSS6 rs4820268 not included in the analysis. This SNP has been widely associated with low iron status in different global populations. 4. Further English editing might help to improve the grammar. For example, the last paragraph of the introduction “….to investigate polymorphism rs1421312 of the TMPRSS6 gene…” may be written as TMPRSS6 rs1421312. 5. In section 3.2, it is not clear what this 3-5cc means. It will be helpful to write this use SI units (mL for the blood volume). 6. In the results section, line 1, TMPRSS6 rs1421312 is wrongly written rs141312. 7. Genotype frequencies of the two SNPs in the study population differed widely from the global and all regional populations including Asian populations in the 1000 Genomes project. I recommend that the authors review their genotyping method to ensure that there were no errors. 8. In the section “Genotype distribution of TMPRSS6 rs1421312 and BMP2 rs235756 according to clinical parameters”, the description of the haematology and biochemical parameters using “normal” and “abnormal” should be high and low levels respectively. 9. In page 9, the sentence “Although the exact mechanism is unclear, compelling evidence emphasizes the role of TMPRSS6 polymorphisms in causing IDA”, needs to be reviewed. TMPRSS6 SNPs have been associated with IDA but causality has is not established. Similarly, the grammar in the first sentence of the last paragraph in page 9 needs to be reviewed. 10. In the last sentence on page 9, “TMPRSS6 rs141312” the SNP ID is incorrect. 11. The information about the location of BMP2 mentioned in the second sentence of page 10 needs to be reviewed. BMP2 is located in chromosome 20, see Here, but not Chr 2 as mentioned by the authors. 12. The last paragraph in page 10 needs to be reviewed. The sentence “we observed no significant association between increased risk for IDA and SNP rs235756 on BMP2” may be written as ….risk of IDA and BMP2 rs236756…. 13. The conclusion that the results of this study “can be used as a predictive marker of IDA is Sauda Arabia” is premature. Further research on more genetic markers is needed to verify the clinical usability of this findings. These two SNPs are not sufficient to make this conclusion. ********** 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 Momodou W. Jallow [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 |
PONE-D-21-07480R1 Association of SNPs within TMPRSS6 and BMP2 genes with iron deficiency status in Saudi Arabia PLOS ONE Dear Dr. Hawsawi, 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, revise the manuscript taking into account the Reviewer 2 comments. ============================== Please submit your revised manuscript by Oct 17 2021 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:
If you would like to make changes to your financial disclosure, please include your updated statement in your cover letter. Guidelines for resubmitting your figure files are available below the reviewer comments at the end of this letter. If applicable, we recommend that you deposit your laboratory protocols in protocols.io to enhance the reproducibility of your results. Protocols.io assigns your protocol its own identifier (DOI) so that it can be cited independently in the future. For instructions see: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/submission-guidelines#loc-laboratory-protocols. Additionally, PLOS ONE offers an option for publishing peer-reviewed Lab Protocol articles, which describe protocols hosted on protocols.io. Read more information on sharing protocols at https://plos.org/protocols?utm_medium=editorial-email&utm_source=authorletters&utm_campaign=protocols. We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript. Kind regards, Cinzia Ciccacci Academic Editor PLOS ONE Journal Requirements: Please review your reference list to ensure that it is complete and correct. If you have cited papers that have been retracted, please include the rationale for doing so in the manuscript text, or remove these references and replace them with relevant current references. Any changes to the reference list should be mentioned in the rebuttal letter that accompanies your revised manuscript. If you need to cite a retracted article, indicate the article’s retracted status in the References list and also include a citation and full reference for the retraction notice. Additional Editor Comments (if provided): [Note: HTML markup is below. Please do not edit.] 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 #1: All comments have been addressed Reviewer #2: (No Response) ********** 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 #1: Partly Reviewer #2: Yes ********** 3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously? Reviewer #1: Yes Reviewer #2: Yes ********** 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 #1: Yes 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 #1: Yes 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 #1: Thanks for addressing all concerns. Refrain dual publication of article. try to meet the criteria of sample size Reviewer #2: The authors have made significant improvements on the manuscript, and they have responded to the comments raised during the review. However, there are minor issues that needs to be addressed to improve the quality of the article as follows: 1. Abstract a. 3 – 5 cc in the methods section could be changes to 3 – 5mL. 2. Introduction section: a. The sentence “….developing and low-income countries” could be change to “low- and middle-income countries”. b. In line 3 of the third paragraph, the T in TMPRSS6 is not italised. 3. Results a. In the last sentence of the last paragraph, it is not clear what the authors meant by … “associated with recessive genotypes”. The phrase may be removed. 4. Discussion section a. The beginning of paragraph 3: “McLaren and his colleagues studied SNP in gene TMPRSS6 in four different ethnic groups…” should be revised. Also, the authors may consider removing the pronoun “his” when referring to other authors. Such sentences may be written as e.g. McLaren and colleagues studies. b. In paragraph 4, line 4, the “H” in HFE should be italised. c. Millet and his colleagues, see above comments d. In line 6, it is not necessary to include the P value 0.002 in discussion here and in other places. e. In paragraph 5, lines 4 – 5, the sentence “… direct association between TMPRSS6 and increase risk of IDA” should be revised. The association reported by these authors is between specific TMPRSS6 SNPs and IDA but not TMPRSS6 only. Additional general comments 1. Table 5 need reformatting. In the Odd ration column, there should be a space between the OR and the confidence interval e.g 3.74(0.19-73.05) should be written as 3.74 (0.19-73.05). 2. There should be a footnote to explain what “ref.” means 3. Table 6 should be on one page. And see the above comments regarding footnotes and brakets. ********** 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 #1: No Reviewer #2: Yes: Momodou W. Jallow, PhD. [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 2 |
Association of SNPs within TMPRSS6 and BMP2 genes with iron deficiency status in Saudi Arabia PONE-D-21-07480R2 Dear Dr. Hawsawi, 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 for payment will follow shortly after the formal acceptance. To ensure an efficient process, please log into Editorial Manager at http://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/, click the 'Update My Information' link at the top of the page, and double check that your user information is up-to-date. If you have any billing related questions, 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, Cinzia Ciccacci Academic Editor PLOS ONE Additional Editor Comments (optional): Reviewers' comments: |
Formally Accepted |
PONE-D-21-07480R2 Association of SNPs within TMPRSS6 and BMP2 genes with iron deficiency status in Saudi Arabia Dear Dr. Hawasawi: I'm pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been deemed suitable for publication in PLOS ONE. Congratulations! Your manuscript is now with our production department. 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 plosone@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 Dr. Cinzia Ciccacci Academic Editor PLOS ONE |
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