PONE-D-23-15441Biometric characteristics of winter rape plants (Brassica napus l.) before harvest in the soil and climatic conditions of north-eastern Poland, depending on the bio-stimulative preparations usedPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. SIKORSKA,

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Dharmendra Kumar Meena

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/12/10/1747/htm

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Additional Editor Comments:

the article is recommended for major revision. Author need to improve upon the discussion part and the flow in abstract and discussion is missing. And also the cohesion between results and discussion cab be made more stronger than present 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: No

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

Reviewer #4: Partly

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

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

Reviewer #4: 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

Reviewer #3: Yes

Reviewer #4: 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: No

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

Reviewer #4: 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: After careful reading, I consider that the structure, logical flow, literature review and statistics used in this manuscript are not up to the standards.

I found high similarities with published literature on the internet especially the introduction section. Authors made frequent mistakes throughout the MS.

The authors would do well to refer to other peer-reviewed publications for guidelines on what is most appropriate in tables, results, and figures, and what is better placed in an appendix.

Although I am aware that there is a great effort behind the manuscript, there still are several difficult parts for publication.

Reviewer #2: It is with great pleasure that I read and evaluated the work ''Biometric characteristics of winter rape plants (Brassica napus l.) before harvest in the soil and climatic conditions of north-eastern Poland, depending on the bio-stimulative preparations used''.

This topic is long and I suggest reducing it, the work as a whole is perfect with new results, and excellent statement of the problem, the subject is relevant to the mission and purpose of the journal. The MS presents an original contribution to the literature with well-organized ideas and supporting points. In addition, there are errors in the authors citations in the text, as well as affirmative sentences which deserve to be supported by citations. I have underlined a few in the text of the manuscript. The research methodology is clear and well detailed, and the results and discussion are well presented, but some details are missing that make the MS poor if not provided by the authors. In the discussion, please expand on the main points with evidence and coherent reasoning.

Also, please follow the instructions of the journal with rigor and detailing the gray areas in order to allow readers to follow you and understand you perfectly.

Reviewer #3: I have reviewed the manuscript and it is very interesting. Dear Editor, this publication will provides new insight about the bio-stimulants and the organic preparation containing microorganisms as well as micro and macro-elements, applied in the autumn before sowing of seeds and in the spring after the start of vegetation, had the most beneficial effect on the biometric characteristics of rape plants before harvesting. I therefore, suggest the minor revision for this manuscript and recommend it for publication.

Reviewer #4: Manuscript is written well. Statistical analysis is also OK. However, suggestions are given for improvement of manuscript in all sections. You may check detailed comments in pdf of manuscript attached here with.

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Reviewer #1: Yes: Anjana J. Atapattu

Reviewer #2: No

Reviewer #3: Yes: Dr. Muhammad Adnan Bukhari

Reviewer #4: Yes: Mudassir Aziz

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Attachments

Attachment

Submitted filename: PONE-D-23-15441_reviewer.pdf

Attachment

Submitted filename: comments PONE-D-23-15441.docx

Attachment

Submitted filename: PONE-D-23-15441_reviewer.pdf

Charakterystyka biometryczna roślin rzepaku ozimego (Brassica napus L.) przed zbiorem w warunkach glebowo-klimatycznych północno-wschodniej Polski

PONE-D-23-15441R1

Dear Dr. ANNA

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,

Dharmendra Kumar Meena

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

I am pleased to tell you that your article can be accepted for publication in the PloSONE

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: Yes

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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: It is with great interest that I read the manuscript ''Biometric characteristics of winter rape plants (Brassica napus L.)

before harvest in the soil and climatic conditions of north-eastern Poland''.

I notice that:

1. The authors have taken my suggestions into account,

2. The manuscript has been considerably improved, but, nevertheless there remain some small errors of punctuation in the text, I underlined some.

3. In this sentence ''In the last experimental facility, an anti-stress agent containing an active and bio-available form of silicon was used to increase plant tolerance to unfavorable cultivation conditions and reduce biotic stresses caused by pathogens and pests.'' , Please give us the name of the anti-stress agent used.

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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: AIGNON Lougbegnon Hyppolite

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