PONE-D-24-20059Victimization Status Among Persons with Disabilities and its Predictors: Evidence from Bangladesh National Survey on Persons with DisabilitiesPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Zaman,

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PLOS ONE

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Reviewers' comments:

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Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

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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?

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Reviewer #1: No

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: comments are attached

Abstract:

The following two statements in the same abstract seems contradictory.

“certain divisions like Khulna and Rangpur was associated with lower likelihoods of being victimized” AND

“residence in certain divisions such as Chattogram, Khulna, Mymensingh, Rangpur, and Sylhet reported higher likelihoods of victimization compared to those in the Barishal division”.

Reviewer #2: • Title: The title is clear and concise; it reflects the focus of the study.

• Abstract: The abstract has done a great job summarizing this study, including background, methods, results, and conclusion.

• The writing of the manuscript is good; the logic in the flow from section to section is smooth.

• This study represents a valuable contribution to knowledge about victimization among persons with disabilities in Bangladesh. It carries useful insights that can inform policy and practice.

This paper contributes to victimization among persons with disabilities in Bangladesh with key information in an area that is particularly underresearched, especially in low- and middle-income countries. The study applied a sound methodology by using data from the 2021 National Survey on Persons with Disabilities and multilevel mixed-effect logistic regression analysis to ascertain the crucial predictors of victimization.

Areas of Improvement

Terms and Definitions: There are some terms that, through the manuscript, would have been better defined at the outset. While there was an attempt to explain the outcome variable, a more specific definition of what was meant by "victimization" and its forms, such as psychological, physical, and social, among others, would greatly aid in comprehension. An explanation for why the categories of harassment-for instance, based on ethnicity and religion-were combined into one dichotomous outcome variable would be better stated upfront and transparently.

Discussion of Limitations: Even though the manuscript has stated that this very study is the first of its kind in Bangladesh, an elaboration on limitations was still expected.

For example, self-reported victimization data might be subjected to recall bias or not be reported at all due to the possible stigma that might be associated with them. Specification about how this limitation may have influenced the results could help make this paper even stronger.

Ethical Considerations: Even though the manuscript maintains that no further ethical approval was necessary to undertake the study due to the de-identified nature of the data, it is desired that this section brings out considerations, if any, made to protect the privacy and rights of the respondents while data were being collected.

The focus on the victimization of persons with disabilities is so relevant since this population tends to be marginalized and underrepresented in research. These findings bear crucial implications for policy and strategies of intervention in Bangladesh and other similar contexts.

References

Some references are not updated to reflect the most recent information, such as 2, 22, 31, 33, and 34.

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes:  Hala Awad Ahmed

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Attachments

Attachment

Submitted filename: PONE-D-24-20059_reviewer.pdf

PONE-D-24-20059R1Victimization Status Among Persons with Disabilities and its Predictors: Evidence from Bangladesh National Survey on Persons with DisabilitiesPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Khan,

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 07 2024 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,

Md. Shahjalal

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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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: (No Response)

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: Partly

Reviewer #2: Yes

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

Reviewer #1: No

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: No

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: No

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: Major revision. Please submit a revision letter and the manuscript with track changes by addressing all the points raised.

Reviewer #2: Technical Soundness and Data Support:

The research is technically sound and appropriately designed for the question it addresses. The use of multilevel mixed-effect logistic regression is suitable, and the statistical analysis has been rigorously performed. However, improving the clarity of data presentation, particularly in the tables, would strengthen the argument. The conclusions are generally supported by the data, but more detailed consideration of the sample size and limitations is recommended.

Statistical Analysis:

The statistical methods were appropriately chosen and executed. Ensure that any assumptions made during the analysis are clearly described in the methods section for transparency.

Data Availability:

The current manuscript does not meet PLOS ONE’s data availability requirements. It is important to make the data underlying the findings fully accessible or to provide a valid justification if this is not possible. Please update the Data Availability Statement to comply with the journal's policy.

Language and Presentation:

The manuscript is written in clear and standard English. However, there are minor typographical and grammatical errors that should be addressed in the revision process. Enhancing the clarity of complex sections will also improve the manuscript's accessibility to a broader readership.

Ethics and Data Protection:

While the ethics section is present, more detail should be provided about participant consent, data protection measures, and the approval process by the ethics board. This will help meet international publication standards.

Suggestions for Improvement:

Consider including graphical elements (e.g., charts) to enhance the visualization of your findings.

The discussion could benefit from more in-depth reflection on the global relevance of the findings and policy recommendations. Expanding on how these findings compare to other regions or what interventions could be recommended would add practical value.

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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.

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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: Yes:  Hala Awad Ahmed

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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.

Attachments

Attachment

Submitted filename: Rahman et al PLOS One 2024 review 2.docx

Victimization Status Among Persons with Disabilities and its Predictors: Evidence from Bangladesh National Survey on Persons with Disabilities

PONE-D-24-20059R2

Dear Dr. Khan,

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Kind regards,

Md. Shahjalal

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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