PONE-D-23-40747Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Developmental Assets Scales: A Study Protocol for Psychometric PropertiesPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Habibi Asgarabad,

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.

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Dear AuthorsWe received the reviewer's comment. Please respond to the comment point by point.Cheers

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2. 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 If you have cited papers that have been retracted, please include the rationale for doing so in the manuscript text, or remove these references and replace them with relevant current references.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 If you need to cite a retracted article, indicate the article’s retracted status in the References list and also include a citation and full reference for the retraction notice.

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. Does the manuscript provide a valid rationale for the proposed study, with clearly identified and justified research questions?

The research question outlined is expected to address a valid academic problem or topic and contribute to the base of knowledge in the field.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

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2. Is the protocol technically sound and planned in a manner that will lead to a meaningful outcome and allow testing the stated hypotheses?

The manuscript should describe the methods in sufficient detail to prevent undisclosed flexibility in the experimental procedure or analysis pipeline, including sufficient outcome-neutral conditions (e.g. necessary controls, absence of floor or ceiling effects) to test the proposed hypotheses and a statistical power analysis where applicable. As there may be aspects of the methodology and analysis which can only be refined once the work is undertaken, authors should outline potential assumptions and explicitly describe what aspects of the proposed analyses, if any, are exploratory.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

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3. Is the methodology feasible and described in sufficient detail to allow the work to be replicable?

Descriptions of methods and materials in the protocol should be reported in sufficient detail for another researcher to reproduce all experiments and analyses. The protocol should describe the appropriate controls, sample size calculations, and replication needed to ensure that the data are robust and reproducible.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

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4. Have the authors described where all data underlying the findings will be made available when the study is complete?

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

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

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

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6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above and, if applicable, provide comments about issues authors must address before this protocol can be accepted for publication. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about research or publication ethics.

You may also provide optional suggestions and comments to authors that they might find helpful in planning their study.

(Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: This study will contribute to the topic of positive youth development via offering guidance regarding the optimal scales for developmental assets. And the protocol is well-organized and can be accepted after revising the citation format in the text.

Reviewer #2: Thanks for receiving the opportunity to review your paper. Overall, I appreciate the thoroughness and importance of your study in assessing the psychometric properties of developmental assets scales. Your focus on systematically reviewing and conducting a meta-analysis adds significant value to the existing literature. However, the manuscript must undergo minor revisions suggested below before it can be considered for publication.

I suggest a minor adjustment in the structure of the Abstract. I recommend you to consider incorporating your key results and conclusions section in place of the discussion section.

The introduction provides comprehensive background information that is highly relevant to the study. However, the authors must significantly expand on it by highlighting the significance and novelty of the study.

In methodology, address how you will assess and manage heterogeneity among the included studies. Mention all the statistical tests used in the study.

I noted an issue with the PRISMA flowchart presented as Figure [1]. It appears that the chart is incomplete as the value of 'k' (number of studies included in the meta-analysis) is not reflecting accurately. This discrepancy undermines the clarity and transparency of your methodology, which are essential aspects of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. I kindly request that you review and revise the PRISMA flowchart to ensure that it accurately represents the number of studies included in your analysis. Providing an accurate depiction of the study selection process is crucial for readers to assess the rigor and comprehensiveness of your review.

In result section, the data are well-organized. However, I suggest to add a well-constructed forest plot which can help to concisely convey the results of a meta-analysis. Incorporating this graphical depiction will not only aid in understanding the individual study contributions but also provide a holistic view of the overall effect size and its variability. Ensure consistency in the representation of odds ratios across the forest plot.

In discussion section, it should be more objective and clearer according to the purpose of the study and focus more on potential implications of your study's findings for both research and practice. Also add future research direction based on current findings.

Expand the reference list as systematic reviews and meta-analyses are expected to include a comprehensive collection of literature.

I suggest English language revisions and other typos and grammar errors should be corrected.

Reviewer #3: The authors performed a study addressing “Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Developmental Assets Scales: A Study Protocol for Psychometric Properties”. I didn't find any major problems with your manuscript.

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: No

Reviewer #3: No

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Attachments

Attachment

Submitted filename: Reviewer Comment Plos One.docx

Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Developmental Assets Scales: A Study Protocol for Psychometric Properties

PONE-D-23-40747R1

Dear Dr. Mojtaba Habibi Asgarabad,

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,

Chrysanthi Lioupi

Guest Editor

PLOS ONE