PONE-D-23-21975Adoption of policies to improve respectful maternity care in Timor-LestePLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Fernandes,

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ACADEMIC EDITOR:

Dear authors, 

Please go through the article and comply the points raised by the reviewers before assessing for suitability of publication.

With regards,

Ranjit

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We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

Kind regards,

Ranjit Kumar Dehury

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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"This research was funded through AF’s PhD scholarship by Airlangga University, Indonesia and Instituto Superior Cristal, Timor-Leste. "

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"This research was funded through AF’s PhD scholarship by Airlangga University, Indonesia and Instituto Superior Cristal, Timor-Leste. "       

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Additional Editor Comments:

Dear authors,

Please go through the article and comply the points raised by the reviewers before assessing for suitability of publication.

With regards,

Ranjit

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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: 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?

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: • WHO standards and quality statements (4-6 on experience of care) need elaboration. For example, what is 4-6 on experience of care? Briefly introduce the WHO standards from one to N and why the 4-6 is chosen. The author/s must introduce the standards appropriately.

• The questions pertaining to ‘input quality measures’ at the facilities were recorded in a tick box column; ‘yes’ or ‘no’ type. The Likert scale method could have been more appropriate.

• What are the “four dot points” in the Timor-Leste guidelines?

• In the introduction, with the use of data, it is shown that non-institutional deliveries increase with second and third childbirths; was this phenomenon explored through the qualitative interviews? If yes, what were the gender or power dynamics in that behaviour?

Reviewer #2: The overall paper underlines the importance of policy discourse and its influence on healthcare practices. It rightly calls for a fundamental shift in the culture of care for women in Timor-Leste and suggests a two-pronged approach involving immediate actions and long-term strategies. This paper provides a logical and actionable way forward based on the study's findings.

The paper does not mention any potential limitations of the study, such as the scope, sample size, or potential biases. Including this information would offer a more complete understanding of the research's boundaries. Additionally, it does not explicitly state whether this is a qualitative or quantitative study, which could be important for readers seeking specific research methods.

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes: Abhishek Dondapati

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Adoption of policies to improve respectful maternity care in Timor-Leste

PONE-D-23-21975R1

Dear Dr. Fernandes,

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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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,

Ranjit Kumar Dehury

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

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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

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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 #1: Yes

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 #1: This manuscript is now acceptable for publication. Statistical tools are applied appropriately to draw the conclusion. The authors have made the data accessible used in the research. The standard of the language are appropriately taken care of. Authors should be conscious about the dual publication of the same research.

Reviewer #2: (No Response)

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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: Yes: Imteyaz Ahmad

Reviewer #2: Yes: Abhishek Dondapati

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