Dear Dr. Mudau,

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.

Address comments on the methodology as raised by reviewer #1.

Please submit your revised manuscript by Aug 26 2023 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.

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• An unmarked version of your revised paper without tracked changes. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Manuscript'.

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We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

Kind regards,

Sogo France Matlala, PhD

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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When submitting your revision, we need you to address these additional requirements.

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2. We suggest you thoroughly copyedit your manuscript for language usage, spelling, and grammar. If you do not know anyone who can help you do this, you may wish to consider employing a professional scientific editing service. 

Whilst you may use any professional scientific editing service of your choice, PLOS has partnered with both American Journal Experts (AJE) and Editage to provide discounted services to PLOS authors. Both organizations have experience helping authors meet PLOS guidelines and can provide language editing, translation, manuscript formatting, and figure formatting to ensure your manuscript meets our submission guidelines. To take advantage of our partnership with AJE, visit the AJE website (http://learn.aje.com/plos/) for a 15% discount off AJE services. To take advantage of our partnership with Editage, visit the Editage website (www.editage.com) and enter referral code PLOSEDIT for a 15% discount off Editage services.  If the PLOS editorial team finds any language issues in text that either AJE or Editage has edited, the service provider will re-edit the text for free.

Upon resubmission, please provide the following:

The name of the colleague or the details of the professional service that edited your manuscript

A copy of your manuscript showing your changes by either highlighting them or using track changes (uploaded as a *supporting information* file)

A clean copy of the edited manuscript (uploaded as the new *manuscript* file)”

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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?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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

Reviewer #1: N/A

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

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes

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4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English??>

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Reviewer’s comments

The manuscript is technically sound, and having the data that support the conclusions.

The manuscript is qualitative in nature.

The abstract:

The conclusion should state the main findings first and then talk about implications and the recommendations.

Introduction

The introduction needs to be restructured according to journal requirements. The problem is not clearly outlined. The researcher should elaborate more on what is known or unknown about the subject (Healthcare Systems Barriers and Strategies for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Utilization amongst Young Females: Registered Nurse’s Perspective) and relate it to other studies conducted globally, especially in the African continent.

Methods

The methodology used was appropriate for the study and well explained. But there was no methodological orientation stated to underpin the study

What type of method was used to approach the study participants?

How many people refused to participate or dropped out of the study?

How was the study setting? it needs to be clearly described.

What type of data collection instrument that was used in this study? was pre-testing or pilot test ever conducted in this study?

Were repeat interviews carried out in this study? If yes, how many?

It was not mentioned if the researcher has used audio or visual recording to collect the data, or if Field notes were made during and/or after the focus group?

The issue of data saturation was never mentioned in this study.

How many data coders have coded the data?

The whole of methodology needs to be re-arranged so that it can flow accordingly. Recruitment of the participants cannot happen after participants have signed the consent forms.check line number 135-142.

Reporting:

Each quotation needs to be identified .e.g. FG number,participant number,Sex and Age.

Some of the quotations were not provided - e.g line number 255:just to say 15 registered nurses, is not sufficient enough without providing some quotations.

The authors should take note of the typos, spelling, grammar, and phrasing issues so that the document can be readable.

Conclusion

The conclusion should highlight the main findings you want to communicate, not a summary of the result. Then make a few recommendations.

Reviewer #2: The manuscript is technically sound, written well and the data support the conclusions. However, minor corrections listed below are to be made;

1. Under materials and methods

Lines 113-114: Correct 28h to 28th, then 1ST to 1st.

Line 135: The ethical approval as well as other approvals should be the first statements under materials and methods.

Line 142: Which of the 5 clinics were considered in the study?

Results

Lines 150-155: use either n or N but consistency must be maintained.

Discussion

Authors may also discuss the implications of HIV drug resistance to the utilisation of PrEP to those who wont be retained in care and are at risk of infection.

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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: No

Reviewer #2: No

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[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.

Healthcare Systems Barriers and Strategies for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Utilization Amongst Young Females in Gauteng Province: Registered Nurse’s Perspectives

PONE-D-23-09915R1

Dear Dr. Mudau,

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.

An invoice for payment will follow shortly after the formal acceptance. To ensure an efficient process, please log into Editorial Manager at http://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/, click the 'Update My Information' link at the top of the page, and double check that your user information is up-to-date. If you have any billing related questions, please contact our Author Billing department directly at authorbilling@plos.org.

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,

Miquel Vall-llosera Camps

Senior Staff Editor

PLOS ONE

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

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??>

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

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

Reviewer #1: N/A

Reviewer #2: N/A

**********

4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available??>

The PLOS Data policy

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English??>

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Because the authors sufficiently addressed the issues brought up during a previous round of review, I think the manuscript is now appropriate for publishing.

-The article presents a scientific investigation that is technically sound and includes supporting data. The right conclusions were drawn using the information that was presented.

-The data should either be incorporated into the publication or stored in a publicly accessible source.

-.All of the evidence that supports the conclusions in the authors' publication has been fully disclosed.

-The language used to present the material is precise, direct, and clear.

Reviewer #2: The authors were able to address all comments to satisfaction, the manuscript is recommended for publication.

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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: No

Reviewer #2: No

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