PONE-D-19-26538

Evaluating Poverty Alleviation Strategies in a Developing Country

PLOS ONE

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Reviewers' comments:

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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

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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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: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes

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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 is an interesting research which identifies the critical factors for poverty alleviation in India with the aid of fuzzy cognitive maps (FCMs). This paper has many strengths and some opportunities for improvement, which I will elaborate below:

Abstract has inappropriate structure. I suggest to answer the following aspects: - general context - novelty of the work - methodology used - main results

Section 1 presents interesting information. However, it fails to set out any specific interest to a broader audience. There is nothing more than a sort of putting forward the topic. However, what about contribution to relevant literature? Which gaps do you want to fill and how?

Methodology is unclear. Initially a short resume can be proposed to explain several steps. The methodology used must be linked to the existing literature on FCM. what is its potential? its limit?

Results must be linked to the methodology. Please define the relationship and relate your finding with the relevant literature.

Finally, an extensive editing of English language and style is required.

Suggested references:

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2019.07.012

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2015.06.006

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2015.10.038

Reviewer #2: The paper is accurate in the description of the methodology; however some steps can be explained better.

In 189-190 you explained that the concepts were elicited asking the participants the “critical 190 factors required to ensure that people come out of poverty on a sustainable basis”. Was this enough to prompt the contribution of the participants or did you give some other information to elicit their contribution. The quantity of information given before the participant tasks is a question that matter in FCMs building since a great quantity of information could lead to bias while very little information can lead to scanty results. How did you reach the correct trade-off?

523-524 “The 524 larger the value of the final state vectors, better the selected policies.” This means that all the concept give a desired and positive contribution to the poverty alleviation. Did all respondent give positive concept or did you declined all in a positive way to make them handy?

The paper aims also at giving a methodological contribution. I suggest some recent paper to enrich this part:

Falcone, P. M., Lopolito, A., & Sica, E. (2019). Instrument mix for energy transition: A method for policy formulation. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 148, 119706.

Morone, P., Falcone, P. M., & Lopolito, A. (2019). How to promote a new and sustainable food consumption model: A fuzzy cognitive map study. Journal of cleaner production, 208, 563-574.

Falcone, P. M., Lopolito, A., & Sica, E. (2018). The networking dynamics of the Italian biofuel industry in time of crisis: Finding an effective instrument mix for fostering a sustainable energy transition. Energy Policy, 112, 334-348.

Falcone, P. M., Lopolito, A., & Sica, E. (2017). Policy mixes towards sustainability transition in the Italian biofuel sector: Dealing with alternative crisis scenarios. Energy research & social science, 33, 105-114.

ln 192 why do you mention only two concepts?

The diagrams of the various scenarios are hard to read. I suggest bar diagrams showing differences with the steady state values of each variable under each scenario.

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: No

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Evaluating Poverty Alleviation Strategies in a Developing Country

PONE-D-19-26538R1

Dear Dr. Singh,

We are pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it complies with all outstanding technical requirements.

Within one week, you will receive an e-mail containing information on the amendments required prior to publication. When all required modifications have been addressed, you will receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will proceed to our production department and be scheduled for publication.

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With kind regards,

Stefan Cristian Gherghina, PhD

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 #1: All comments have been addressed

Reviewer #2: All comments have been addressed

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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: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: N/A

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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: The authors accurately addressed all my previous comments. I recommend the article for publication in PLOS ONE Journal.

Reviewer #2: The author(s) has/have addressed all the point raised in the review. The paper has been much improved and suits for the publication in the Journal

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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: No