PONE-D-24-33242The English Debating Self-efficacy Scale: Scale Development, Validation, and Psychometric PropertiesPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Yang,

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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The reviewers have provided constructive feedback to improve the quality of the paper, “The English Debating Self-efficacy Scale: Scale Development, Validation, and Psychometric Properties.” The abstract needs restructuring to clearly state the study's gap, key findings, and conclusion. In the introduction, the research gap, problem statement, objectives, and purpose should be more clearly articulated. The literature review requires subheadings for better organization and flow. Significant revisions are needed in the methodology section, including clear statements on research design, population, item generation, and validation processes. Ethical considerations should be placed at the end of the methodology. The instrument section should clarify how the items were generated, the number of items included and eliminated, and the criteria for elimination. The discussion section requires more citations to support the findings. Expanding the scale dimensions, employing a longitudinal design, and including test-retest reliability will strengthen the study. The implications section should elaborate on the EDSS’s practical applications across various settings. 

Kind regards,

Musa Adekunle Ayanwale

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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Please submit your revised manuscript by Dec 08 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.

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We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

Kind regards,

Musa Adekunle Ayanwale

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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2. We noticed you have some minor occurrence of overlapping text with the following previous publication(s), which needs to be addressed:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38789483/

In your revision ensure you cite all your sources (including your own works), and quote or rephrase any duplicated text outside the methods section. Further consideration is dependent on these concerns being addressed.

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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: Partly

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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?

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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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: Dear Author, several areas require improvement to enhance the research's quality and impact. The abstract needs restructuring to provide a clearer overview of the study's key elements. The introduction should be reorganized to clearly state the research gap, problem statement, objectives, and purpose. The literature review lacks structure and requires subheadings for better organization. The methodology section needs significant revision, including a clear statement of the research design and methods employed. The discussion section requires more citations to support or argue the findings.

To strengthen the study, consider expanding the scale's dimensions, employing a longitudinal design, and including test-retest reliability. The implications section should elaborate on the EDSS's practical applications in various settings. These improvements will enhance the scale's validity, reliability, and usefulness in assessing and developing English debate skills.

Reviewer #2: It is a great pleasure to have reviewed this paper, “The English Debating Self-efficacy Scale: Scale Development, Validation, and Psychometric Properties”. The study has numerous merits, but for this review, I will unravel some grey areas that, after implementing the correction, will further strengthen the quality of the paper.

Abstract

In a sentence, the authors should state the gap in the study. The gap in the study lies in the lack of detailed analysis of the variables that may have influenced the result of absence. Results were absent in the abstract, and the conclusion was not well crafted. Additionally, the conclusion fails to summarize the key findings and implications of the study effectively.

Methodology

The study fails to identify its design as well as the selection process.

How were the items generated?

Who are the study population?

Prior to the distribution of the question, were the items validated? If yes, how was it validated? What type of validation was conducted?

Ethical Consideration

I think the ethical considerations should be the late subsection after the analytical procedure in the methodology.

Instrument

How were the items generated? Before the analysis, how many items were included in the questionnaire? How many items were eliminated? What were the criteria for such elimination? Which item(s) was/were eliminated, if any?

References

Some of the references are not complete. Ensure to include the doi for those that have it.

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Reviewer #1: Yes: Damola Olugbade

Reviewer #2: Yes: Oluwaseyi Aina Gbolade Opesemowo

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Attachments

Attachment

Submitted filename: Reviewer Comments - PONE-D-23-27190_R2.docx

The English Debating Self-efficacy Scale: Scale Development, Validation, and Psychometric Properties

PONE-D-24-33242R1

Dear Dr. Yang,

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,

Musa Adekunle Ayanwale

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

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

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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

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

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: 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

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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

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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: (No Response)

Reviewer #2: The authors worked diligently to resolve all issues that were brought up during the review. They contributed their ideas and expertise to come up with effective solutions. After thorough evaluation, the authors left the reviewer feeling confident and motivated to consider the article for publication.

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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: Yes: Damola Olugbade

Reviewer #2: Yes: Opesemowo Oluwaseyi Aina Gbolade

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