PONE-D-24-09492The Relative Importance of Herbicide Use for Conservation Tillage Adoption by U.S. Corn and Soybean ProducersPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Nemec Boehm,

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Dafeng Hui, Ph.D.

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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Additional Editor Comments:

Comments from Associate Editor:

This manuscript has now been reviewed by two reviewers. Both of them raised some concerns on the current version of the manuscript, and provided some suggestions. I briefly reviewed the manuscript and concur with the reviewer on most of their suggestions. Reviewer #1 recommended many references. While some of these are relevant to the work in the manuscript, there is no requirement to include any of these citations in their revised manuscript. Reviewer #2 provided some constructive suggestions for authors to improve manuscript. But item 3, whether using the first person in the technical writing process depends on the writing style. There is a trend of using the first person in scientific writing. I noticed that the manuscript was submitted a few months ago, but the delay was due to changes in AE and difficulty to find adequate reviewers. Sorry about this. Based on the reviewer's comments, my decision is Major revision.

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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: Partly

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

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: No

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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: Yes

Reviewer #2: No

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5. Review Comments to the Author

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Reviewer #1: The manuscript prepared in good manner. However, it requires some corrections to improve the quality. For instance, it is very important to provide brief information about weed problems at the beginning of the introduction section

For other suggestions, see the comments and suggestions in the attached MS file

Reviewer #2: Manuscript No: PONE-D-24-15577

Manuscript Title: The Relative Importance of Herbicide Use for Conservation Tillage Adoption by U.S. Corn and Soybean Producers.

A major revision is being suggested for the submitted manuscript. Following are the point-to-point comments that need to be addressed for further review:

1. The abstract needs to be rewritten, and the proper motivation followed by clear objectives and major findings with quantitative support need to be provided in the revised abstract.

2. The introduction needs to be revised, and the research gap is not clear. Hence, authors are advised to rewrite/ update the introduction to clearly present the research gap, and in continuing with that, proper objectives must be formulated.

3. Authors must avoid using the first person in the technical writing process (avoid the use of i/we//our/us, etc.)

4. All the headings and subheadings must be properly numbered starting from the introduction with no 1.

5. The explanation with the figures caption can be kept as text in the main body of the manuscript and can be discussed properly.

6. The results and analysis must be presented and discussed in appropriate sections. Here, the authors have presented and analyzed the results in the prior sections. Hence, it is suggested that the authors follow the IMRAD paper structure for better presentation and understanding.

7. The analysis of the obtained results is very poor, and there is no comparison with any existing/ published work. Hence, the authors are suggested to update the results, compare them in the discussion section, and provide appropriate reasoning for the improved behavior in the proposed method.

8. Conclusions must be rewritten (in max 200 words), and they must convey the major findings of the research with quantitative support.

I wish the author good luck.

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes: Dr. Narendra Khatri

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Attachments

Attachment

Submitted filename: Herbicides and conservation tillage_03_06_24_Reviewer.docx

The Relative Importance of Herbicide Use for Conservation Tillage Adoption by U.S. Corn and Soybean Producers

PONE-D-24-09492R1

Dear Dr. Nemec Boehm,

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.

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Kind regards,

Dafeng Hui, Ph.D.

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

The authors have made great efforts and adequately addressed these concerns.

Reviewers' comments: