PONE-D-21-03495Researchers’ perspective of real-world impact from UK public health research: a qualitative studyPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Lakin,

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Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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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: Partly

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

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: N/A

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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?

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

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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: There are no major suggestions as such. The manuscript is well written and meets the standard criteria and has passed the COREQ checklist successfully meeting the standards and encompassing all the necessary aspects.

However, it is advised that the manuscript is structured accordingly to the criteria highlighted by the journal, although very few minor adjustments are required and correction of few grammatical errors. A professional editing is also advised for typos etc.

Reviewer #2: Nicely done empirical study - I have no major criticisms of that aspect. but it's under-theorised. I think given the HUGE knowledge base about knowledge translation and research impact that's accumulated in the past few years, we can't have more papers appearing which just present "three linked themes". You need to theorise this properly, using one or other of the many theoretical frameworks linking research to impact! Personally I'd use either the CIHR framework or Jo Rycroft-Malone's realist evaluation framework (might be diplomatic - she's now head of HS&DR!). This will mean a major re-write but I think worth it. My team reviewed the different impact frameworks a few years ago - there may be better ones out there now.

Trish Greenhalgh

Canadian Academy of Health Sciences: Making an Impact, A Preferred Framework and Indicators to Measure Returns on Investment in Health Research. Downloadable from http://www.cahs-acss.ca/wp-content/ uploads/2011/09/ROI_FullReport.pdf. Ottawa: CAHS; 2009.

Rycroft-Malone J, Burton C, Wilkinson J, Harvey G, McCormack B, Baker R,

Dopson S, Graham I, Staniszewska S, Thompson C et al: Health Services and Delivery Research. In: Collective action for knowledge mobilisation: a realist evaluation of the Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care. Volume 3, edn. Southampton (UK): NIHR Journals Library.; 2015: 44.

Greenhalgh et al. Research impact - a narrative review. BMC Medicine (2016) 14:78

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes: Trisha Greenhalgh

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Researchers’ perspective of real-world impact from UK public health research: a qualitative study

PONE-D-21-03495R1

Dear Dr. Lakin,

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,

Chaisiri Angkurawaranon

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

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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 #2: Yes

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

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 #2: Yes

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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

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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: Good response to my comments. They have now highlighted the theoretical framework they used. Happy for publication.

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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 #2: Yes: Trisha Greenhalgh