PONE-D-24-46925Towards Cohesive National Surveys in Pakistan: A Comparative Study of DHS and PSLMPLOS ONE

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This is a beautiful piece of paper that needs a few tweaks to improve the readability for the readers. 

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Additional Editor Comments:

This is a beautiful piece of paper that needs a few tweaks to improve the readability for the readers.

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Reviewers' comments:

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Having read through the submission, i see the paper as a vital tool for future programming and an addition to the body of knowledge. This paper once accepted will help in decision making in Pakistan and globally.

Reviewer #2: As a reviewer, I find this article to be logically ordered, well-structured and presented succintly and clearly. The similarities and complexities of the various surveys are well-presented. Save from a few spelling omissions e.g. “in depth (sic)”, the paper is written in a scholarly, yet readable and accessible format.

Some proposed revisions are regarding uniformity and consistency in the number of significant figures e.g. in Table 4 which has both 3 and 4 significant figures and both 1 or 2 decimal places. Table 2 is particularly hard to read in a “wide” format, and a long format is suggested, including disaggregation by provinces of the number of respondents. It would also be helpful to include the number of children for which the MWRA respondents reported, especially given that immunization is a major component of the study. Additional proposed additions to the details on the rudiments of the two surveys include mentioning or clarifying the specific reference or recall periods for the indicators.

The authors could also make a good case advocating for efforts to harmonize survey methodologies, and key indicators across these different survey types. While the authors report differences in respondent selection for certain question types and outbreaks before one of the surveys that resulted in differences, there could be more clarification on immunization indicators in children diverging so much between the two questionnaires and the implications of such, given that both surveys are provincially representative and country-wide potentially even-ing out the impact of the regional immunization activities.

Have concordance surveys taken place between DHS and national surveys in other countries? MICS and DHS? A global perspective would be helpful to add in the discussion.

Overall, a solid paper that discusses a critical need.

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Reviewer #1: Yes:  Ezechukwu Ikenna Nwokoma

Reviewer #2: No

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Towards Cohesive National Surveys in Pakistan: A Comparative Study of DHS and PSLM

PONE-D-24-46925R1

Dear Dr. Khan,

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,

Naveed Sadiq, Ph.D.

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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