Peer Review History

Original SubmissionNovember 25, 2020
Decision Letter - Pasquale Avino, Editor

PONE-D-20-37110

Digital data-based strategies: a novel form of better understanding COVID-19 pandemic and international scientific collaboration

PLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Zhao,

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Pasquale Avino, Ph.D.

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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Additional Editor Comments:

Dear Authors, please follow the referees' suggestions and accurately revise the language throughout the manuscript. With my best regards, Prof. Pasquale Avino

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer #1: 1. Add references in Introduction part for lines 21-29.

2. Statistical analysis should be explained in more detail.

3. In the reference section, all references should be in similar format.

4. English should be improved for this manuscript.

Revision 1

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer #1:

1. Add references in Introduction part for lines 21-29.

Dear professor, thank you for your work to help us improve our manuscript. Because in the first submission, we forgot to add the line number into our paper, in the revised version, we add new references to the two paragraphs with lines between 21-29 to improve the credibility and readability of our paper.

We add the new reference #8 and #9 to illustrate that the factors affecting the pandemic are diverse and very complex.

8. Wilder-Smith A, Freedman DO. Isolation, quarantine, social distancing and community containment: pivotal role for old-style public health measures in the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak. J Travel Med. 2020;27(2). Epub 2020/02/14. doi: 10.1093/jtm/taaa020.

9. Bowers KW. Balancing individual and communal needs: plague and public health in early modern Seville. Bull Hist Med. 2007;81(2):335-58. Epub 2007/09/12. doi: 10.1353/bhm.2007.0020.

We add the reference #10 (its original reference number was #16) to illustrate that information and truths about the world are increasingly being extracted in the forms of digital signals and signs, rather than being generated from statistical processes.

2. Statistical analysis should be explained in more detail.

We first add more detail of statistical analysis into the "Statistical analysis" of the "Methods" section, including the statistical objects and statistical analysis packages involved in the programming software. Next, in Figs 3 and 4 in the "Results" section, we also added more detail into the statistical analysis, including the statistical methods, p-value and t-value. In the correlation analysis of the matrix, the programming package and code of correlation coefficient and p-value were introduced at the same time.

3. In the reference section, all references should be in similar format.

We have organized the format of the references according to your suggestions and PLOS ONE's style requirements. Thank you.

4. English should be improved for this manuscript.

We have carefully checked and revised our paper sentence by sentence, including language usage, spelling, and grammar. Thank you again.

Attachments
Attachment
Submitted filename: Response to Reviewers.docx
Decision Letter - Pasquale Avino, Editor

Digital data-based strategies: a novel form of better understanding COVID-19 pandemic and international scientific collaboration

PONE-D-20-37110R1

Dear Dr. Zhao,

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.

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Kind regards,

Pasquale Avino, Ph.D.

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Formally Accepted
Acceptance Letter - Pasquale Avino, Editor

PONE-D-20-37110R1

Digital data-based strategies: a novel form of better understanding COVID-19 pandemic and international scientific collaboration

Dear Dr. Zhao:

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.

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Thank you for submitting your work to PLOS ONE and supporting open access.

Kind regards,

PLOS ONE Editorial Office Staff

on behalf of

Professor Pasquale Avino

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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