PONE-D-24-56677Analyzing the determinants for using health research evidence in health planning in Tanzania: a cross-sectional study.PLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Kagoma,

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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We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

Kind regards,

Festo Casmir Shayo, M.D., M.Med., PhD.

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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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: No

Reviewer #2: Yes

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

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: I Don't Know

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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: No

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: General comment: The study is not clear. One cannot understand what exactly was being investigated. The topic under investigation was not brought up very clearly. Authors should have explained the use of health research evidence and its purpose in the abstract and introduction clearly.

Specific comments:

1. Methodology-The methodology is not clear. For example, there is no specific subsection to describe the characteristics of the study participants. Also, calculation of the sample size was wrongly done by considering marginal error of 50% which does not exist.

-Definition or measurement of the dependent variable which is use of health research evidence is not clear. Authors stated that four questions were used for assessing the use of health research evidence without stating the source of this approach. This affects the authenticity and also reproducibility of the results from the current study.

Results: Are not precise and lack a clear message to the readers.

Reviewer #2: I have read the manuscript and I found it good and I do not have any significant comments regarding it. Introduction is good, methodology was described very well. Results also were clear. Discussion and conclusion were good as well

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6. 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.

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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:  James Yahaya

Reviewer #2: 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.]

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Attachments

Attachment

Submitted filename: PONE-D-24-MANUSCRIP WITH REVIEW COMMENTS.docx

PONE-D-24-56677R1Analyzing the determinants for using health research evidence in health planning in Tanzania: a cross-sectional study.PLOS ONE

Dear Dr.  Kagoma,

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 May 21 2025 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,

Festo Casmir Shayo, M.D, M.Med, PhD.

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments:

ACADEMIC EDITOR COMMENTS:

1. Title: Replace Analyzing with “Analysis of.”

2. Keep only the email of the corresponding author.

3. Abstract:

• Introduction should be about the use of health research evidence and not about universal health coverage.
• Your study object is to investigate the determinants of the utilization of health research evidence and not the barriers to the utilization of health research evidence. To align with your study objective, please remove all results and discussion regarding barriers to the use of health research evidence. You can produce another manuscript on the barriers associated with the utilization of health research evidence. Otherwise, rephrase your title to include the “barriers for” ……. For instance, “Analysis of the determinants and barriers for using health research evidence in health planning in Tanzania.”

4. Results:

• Delete all introductory sections of each results subheading: page 12 lines 285-289; page 16 lines 323-328; and other similar sections throughout the results section. They are not relevant to the research article and are reserved for the submission of the dissertation report.
• In regression analysis, describe only the results for the adjusted model. The unadjusted model can be traced in the table.
• Avoid describing the analysis parameters. Describe the intended results right away. For example: “In the adjusted regression model, the study participants from regional referral hospitals were significantly more likely to use health research evidence than those from dispensaries: (aOR = 2.67, CI: [1.89-7.92], p-value = 0.038).”
• In regression analysis, use “than” instead of “compared to” (used in the chi-square test).
• In all tables of results, please remove all vertical lines and retain only three horizontal lines: one under the title, one above the column heading, and one between the column headings and the body of the table.
• I suggest you download and read at least three original research articles from the PLOS One Journal and learn how the results are presented. Your results are presented in the dissertation report format.  

5. Discussion:

• Your interpretation of the findings lacks an alternative explanation of the results and study strengths and limitations. Also, maintain objectivity and logical flow, and avoid repeating the results section. Please download and read at least three original research articles from the PLOS One Journal to improve your discussion and conclusion sections.  

5. Conclusion

• Keep your conclusion relatively short by summarizing the most striking findings relevant to your study objective(s)

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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: (No Response)

Reviewer #3: 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: No

Reviewer #3: Yes

**********

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

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #3: I Don't Know

**********

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: No

Reviewer #3: Yes

**********

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: No

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: After evaluating the revised version of the manuscript, in my views, I don't think that the work meets the quality to be published. I think authors have failed to take time and make significant changes. After just checking the abstract, you realized serious errors especially in the results section. Could be that the work was left in the hands of a person who is not competent in writing and articulating research. This has made me to just end up the review process with only abstract.

Reviewer #3: Authors have adequately addressed all of the previous reviewers comments. I myself did not review this article previously but I reviewed the author responses to the previous review.

**********

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:  JAMES Joseph YAHAYA

Reviewer #3: No

**********

[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.

Attachments

Attachment

Submitted filename: PONE-D-24-56677_R1_reviewer MANUSCRIPT WITH REVIEW COMMENTS.pdf

Analysis of the determinants for using health research evidence in health planning in Tanzania: a cross-sectional study.

PONE-D-24-56677R2

Dear Dr. Kagoma,

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,

Festo Casmir Shayo, M.D, M.Med, PhD.

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments: