PONE-D-21-25036The role of information communication technologies as a moderator of knowledge creation and knowledge transfer in improving the quality of healthcare servicesPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Radević,

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Partly

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Reviewer #2: I Don't Know

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: No

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Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Dear Author(s),

Thank you for submitting your paper for PLOS ONE. I believe your paper has good merit and potential to be published once you revise the paper.

1) A general comment about relevancy. We are all faced with the same issue, that after the pandemic nothing is the same any more, could you actualise on that?

2) Some other research (https://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2019/05/01/cheng-hock-toh-current-geographical-spread-research-failing-patients/) have hypothesised, that there is a big discrepancy between centre and periphery. Might this be an explanatory factor also in your research?

You will find my comments in the attached PDF.

Kind regards.

Reviewer #2: 1. The paper addresses an interesting and relevant topic. Overall, the paper is well-organised with good readability.

2. However, the contributions are unclear in terms of originality and implications to theory and practice within the knowledge management discipline. The title of the paper suggests an enabling role of ICT for knowledge management. Yet, a rich discussion on the role of ICT infrastructure (platforms, tools, etcetera), digital skills and governance in fostering knowledge creation and sharing is missing.

3. The literature review does not reveal the gaps in existing research that justify the paper's originality.

4. The complexity of the knowledge creation/sharing issues in healthcare services, which are typically led by evidence-based knowledge and practices by clinicians/experts, is missing in the literature review.

5. The quality of healthcare services and organisational performance are often used interchangeably. The literature review does not sufficiently address the quality (or performance) aspects in a healthcare setting.

6. Line 119: In describing the four stages of knowledge creation (SECI model), the word 'internationalisation' needs to be replaced by 'internalisation'.

7. Since the healthcare services primarily deal with expertise-driven tacit knowledge, 'knowledge sharing' is probably a more appropriate term to use instead of knowledge transfer.

8. The paper refers to ICT as an organisational factor on several occasions (line 15, 65, 456). Do the authors mean the ICT maturity or capability as an organisational factor to influence the knowledge management activities?

9. For the research constructs, the authors mentioned using well-established measuring instruments frequently employed in contemporary research. However, the absence of a few key references indicates methodological weakness.

10. The study involves survey participants from a combination of institutions across public and private sectors (public: 32 and private: 13). It would have been interesting to see whether an organisation's characteristics (public vs private) affect its knowledge management activities.

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: No

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Attachments

Attachment

Submitted filename: PONE-D-21-25036_reviewer.pdf

PONE-D-21-25036R1

The Role of Information Communication Technologies as a Moderator of Knowledge Creation and Knowledge Sharing in Improving the Quality of Healthcare Services

PLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Radević,

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 Dec 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:

• A rebuttal letter that responds to each point raised by the academic editor and reviewer(s). You should upload this letter as a separate file labeled 'Response to Reviewers'.
• A marked-up copy of your manuscript that highlights changes made to the original version. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Revised Manuscript with Track Changes'.
• An unmarked version of your revised paper without tracked changes. You should upload this as a separate file labeled '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: https://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,

Nadja Damij, Ph.D.

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Journal Requirements:

Additional Editor Comments (if provided):

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Reviewers' comments:

[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.