PONE-D-24-24371Morphological changes in the mandible associated with the presence of exostoses: a study in two archaeological populations from southern France.PLOS ONE

Dear Dr. CASAZZA,

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Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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Additional Editor Comments (if provided):

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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: Partly

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: Partly

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

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: No

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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: No

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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

Reviewer #3: No

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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: The work presented for evaluation is an important addition to the knowledge regarding the morphological characteristics of human mandibles from archaeological materials in relation to exostoses. The work arrangement is appropriate, the goal has been clearly defined and the results are presented transparently. I have a minor comment regarding the title. It should be supplemented with information that the material consisted of human mandibles. This also applies to the content of the article. The conclusions are quite incomprehensible to me. In lines 305-306 they state: "we did not investigate certain characteristics, such as bone density, by observation of trabecular bone, as study of the collections required the use of non-invasive methods". Firstly, bone densitometry is a non-invasive method, and secondly, it does not examine the trabecular structure of the bone. L of line 308 we read "Mandibular bone density has been analyzed on panoramic X-rays.." I found no mention of this in the methodology and results. Was this a discussion with other authors? I don't see any quote.

Reviewer #2: hello

thank you for an interesting paper

from clinical and anatomical point of view there is no manducation but mastication - please change in the abstract and introduction to: - mastication (manducation) apparatus in the abstract and chapter introduction. in chapter introduction write the difference between manducation and mastication and later use the mastication term

probably the definition is based on some cultural, anatomical and medical term differences, like:

look here- https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-13739-7_21

since the mandibular angle has its protuberances, the muscular fibers of the masseter muscle tends to attach to those bony parts, therefore the mastication is possible

example of paper in french: - mascication muscles - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31626502/

its a great differences in the muscle nomenclature based on european, english and american boards of anatomy

in the introduction add the muscles of mastication and the role of masseter muscle, which function is greately dependable on chewing and biting;

the function of mastication or the function of manducation?

an important remark should be addresed in the mandibular angles anatomy, shape and build, In some cases of severe mastication forces, bite and muscles overgrowth the mandibular angles tend to rotate, angulate or bow themselves because of the extensive forces.

introduction is sufficient

mate4rial and methods are described

please write the full meaning of SRA DRAC-PACA + add the number/year of approval form for the study

inclusion and exclusion criteria for study are described

what does a breadth distance mean?

what calipers were used? company/name/country of original data is missing - improve a detailed information about the used devices for the study

what is the R-software? - same: add more details bout this software, producent, version, country of origins

its important to explain in detailed used material and methods so that any reader can used the same devices/methods in the future

sample analysis is ok

results section: - line 180-184 - why only some skulls were sufficient for measurements?> what factors did influence on this situation - describe them

the two operators data should be blind-folded, like for example - examiner 1 (X.X), and examiner 2 (Y.Y)

was it possible to distinguish male/female skulls? does gender/age associate with the tuberances count? was this possible to establish or is it the study limitation?

results are sufficient

results chapter is well written, im just missing a 1-2 sentence comment on each table in the result section - please add them

discussion section:

-first paragraph in the discussion section should be improved and more information about mandibular angle changes in shape, size, build and protuberance occurence should be added

discussion is propper, however im missing top 5 key highlights from author study at the end of this discussion section

the final conclusions - should be re-arranged and re-wrriten since uthors didnt use any rtg/cbct studies just some calipers - please change and improve the final conclusions

referenes are sound

presented figures are sufficient - im missing some more explanation remakrs belowe each figure description

same the used calipers, distances and measuring reference points should be more careuflyl described and presented

Reviewer #3: Although this study is interesting and valuable, the paper is not good and has some important issues to resolve.

The important points to be corrected are:

1. The manuscript is written very poorly. Many points remain for the reader to guess (or get confused over them). Some necessary information that should have been reported in the Methods section are reported in the Results section. Many other important Methodological details are completely missing. Overall, the paper is written poorly and should be completely re-written at the Methods and Results part.

2. For starters, please apply the STROBE checklist's items to the revision.

3. Fill out the STROBE checklist with page numbers and submit it too.

4. The abstract is as well written very poorly. Overall, it seems that the paper is written mostly by inexperienced author(s). The current authors are not qualified to handle the revisions. They should definitely seek help from a senior, experienced professor in writing the paper.

5. The discussion should discuss the lack of sample size calculations before conducting the study.

Before any in-depth reviews, I need the paper to be re-written into a fluent, organized, and correct format. Then I will be able to judge its scientific merit and scientific points.

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: No

Reviewer #3: No

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PONE-D-24-24371R1Morphological changes in the human mandible associated with the presence of exostoses: a cross-sectional study in two archaeological populations from southern France.PLOS ONE

Dear Dr. CASAZZA,

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 Nov 22 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,

Sameh Attia, MS

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

[Note: HTML markup is below. Please do not edit.]

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

Reviewer #3: (No Response)

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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

Reviewer #3: Yes

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

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: 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 #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: No

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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

Reviewer #3: Yes

**********

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: (No Response)

Reviewer #2: Thank you for the review

paper is improved

all the necessary changes are done

figures and tables meet the paper criteria

thank you

Reviewer #3: The revision is better but there is a lot of room for improvement. Please improve it more:

- While reporting p-values, please report at least up to 3 decimal places or more, but not fewer.

- Besides reporting min, max, mean, and SD, also do report median, Q1, and Q3.

- Also report 95% Confidence Intervals.

- Report these parameters for the whole sample as well as both groups.

- Attach the statistical raw dataset as supplementary material.

- The paper is still very unorganized. The organization of the paper is done very poorly. The subheadings are the same size as the main headings. You should use different levels of subheadings. Avoid using the font for the main headings for the subheadings.

- Add numbers to the headings and subheadings for better fluency and organization. Like 3, 3.1, 2.3.1...

- The name and details of the statistical software?

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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: No

Reviewer #2: No

Reviewer #3: 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.

Morphological changes in the human mandible associated with the presence of exostoses: a cross-sectional study in two archaeological populations from southern France.

PONE-D-24-24371R2

Dear Dr. CASAZZA,

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 will be generated when your article is formally accepted. Please note, if your institution has a publishing partnership with PLOS and your article meets the relevant criteria, all or part of your publication costs will be covered. Please make sure your user information is up-to-date by logging into Editorial Manager at Editorial Manager® and clicking the ‘Update My Information' link at the top of the page. If you have any questions relating to publication charges, 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,

Sameh Attia, MS

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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 #3: (No Response)

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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 #3: (No Response)

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

Reviewer #3: (No Response)

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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 #3: (No Response)

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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 #3: (No Response)

**********

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 #3: The revision is satisfactory. I think the manuscript is acceptable for publication.

Congratulations.

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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 #3: No

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