PONE-D-23-42953Patients’ experiences of living with low anterior resection syndrome three to six months after colorectal cancer surgery: A phenomenological studyPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Reime,

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We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

Kind regards,

Atalel Fentahun Awedew, MD,MPH, Ass.Prof Surgery

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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5. Please review your reference list to ensure that it is complete and correct. If you have cited papers that have been retracted, please include the rationale for doing so in the manuscript text, or remove these references and replace them with relevant current references. Any changes to the reference list should be mentioned in the rebuttal letter that accompanies your revised manuscript. If you need to cite a retracted article, indicate the article’s retracted status in the References list and also include a citation and full reference for the retraction notice.

Additional Editor Comments:

Your made interview only five patients. Why do you make small sample?

Align your manuscript with PLOS ONE guideline

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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?

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?

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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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: It is an interesting area of research undertaken by your team gathering insight into living with LARS. My only concern is why the researchers have settled with 5 participants only to give their recommendations. Was it not possible to recruit more patients to have a broader inclusion and diverse opinions?

The description of the findings is appropriate in a good sequence.

Apart from this limitation of a small sample. this study could be helpful in stimulating more research in the same area.

Reviewer #2: Strengths and weaknesses

1. the topic is not unique but worthy of researching

2. there are of papers in google scholar and Refseek about this topic since 2020

3. Ethical approval is mentioned

4. the title is too long. You can shorten it to be more attractive and citable

5. the abstract contains plagiarism. Please revise it. Otherwise, it is informative

6. the aim is clear

7. the KEYWORDS are fair. Please use http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/mesh

8. lack of the abbreviations section

9. the introduction provide sufficient background information for readers in the immediate field to understand the problem/hypotheses

10. the text arrangement is good

11. the method section is good

12. the depth of the academic material is good

13. the study design is good

14. The suitability and accuracy of questions is good

15. The research methodology is suitable

16. The materials are good

17. the logic is clear

18. the paper is not novel

19. there are few grammatical errors in this article

20. the related concepts are introduced

21. the readability is sufficient

22. the results are good

23. all figures/tables are clear enough to summarize the results for presentation to the readers

24. all figures/tables are well referred to in the text

25. the theoretical analysis in this article is sufficient

26. the discussion of results from multiple angles is sufficient

27. the conclusion is tenable

28. the reference section contains too many old references

29. please use (google scholar and Refseek) search engines then set it since 2020

30. the references are in order within the text

31. Bias is present

32. There is no conflict of interest with the author about this topic

33. Fund is mentioned

34. Conflict of interest is mentioned

35. Acknowledgement is mentioned

36. You can use my suggestions

My final decision is acceptable after minor revision

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Reviewer #1: Yes: Mohammed Amir

Reviewer #2: Yes: hazim alhiti

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PONE-D-23-42953R1Patients’ experiences of living with low anterior resection syndrome three to six months after colorectal cancer surgery: A phenomenological studyPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Reime,

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.

I extend my heartfelt appreciation to the esteemed authors for addressing all insightful comments and constructive feedback. The manuscript not only sheds light on sensitive issues in Colorectal surgery but also introduces a fresh perspective to the field. I have duly noted the minor formatting suggestions provided, including the incorporation of the study design in the methodology section and changing "aim" to "Objective." Following the suggested format of Background, Objective, Method, Results, Conclusion, and Keywords will enhance the clarity and structure of the manuscript. Please submit the clear manuscript with recommended format of abstract within 48hours Please submit your revised manuscript by Jun 24 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,

Atalel Fentahun Awedew, MD,MPH, Ass.Prof Surgery

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Journal Requirements:

Please review your reference list to ensure that it is complete and correct. If you have cited papers that have been retracted, please include the rationale for doing so in the manuscript text, or remove these references and replace them with relevant current references. Any changes to the reference list should be mentioned in the rebuttal letter that accompanies your revised manuscript. If you need to cite a retracted article, indicate the article’s retracted status in the References list and also include a citation and full reference for the retraction notice.

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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.

Patients’ experiences of living with low anterior resection syndrome three to six months after colorectal cancer surgery: A phenomenological study

PONE-D-23-42953R2

Dear Prof. Marit Hegg Reime

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.

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Kind regards,

Atalel Fentahun Awedew, MD,MPH, Ass.Prof Surgery

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments: