Peer Review History

Original SubmissionNovember 24, 2024
Decision Letter - Chellasamy Panneerselvam, Editor

PONE-D-24-53986Rhus vulgaris Fruit-Mediated Silver Nanoparticles: Synthesis, Characterization, and Potential for Sun Protection, Antioxidant and Antibacterial ApplicationsPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Abate,

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 Mar 05 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,

Chellasamy Panneerselvam

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Journal Requirements:

When submitting your revision, we need you to address these additional requirements.

1. Please ensure that your manuscript meets PLOS ONE's style requirements, including those for file naming. The PLOS ONE style templates can be found at

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/file?id=wjVg/PLOSOne_formatting_sample_main_body.pdf and

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/file?id=ba62/PLOSOne_formatting_sample_title_authors_affiliations.pdf

2.  We suggest you thoroughly copyedit your manuscript for language usage, spelling, and grammar. If you do not know anyone who can help you do this, you may wish to consider employing a professional scientific editing service.

The American Journal Experts (AJE) (https://www.aje.com/) is one such service that has extensive experience helping authors meet PLOS guidelines and can provide language editing, translation, manuscript formatting, and figure formatting to ensure your manuscript meets our submission guidelines. Please note that having the manuscript copyedited by AJE or any other editing services does not guarantee selection for peer review or acceptance for publication.

Upon resubmission, please provide the following:

The name of the colleague or the details of the professional service that edited your manuscript

A copy of your manuscript showing your changes by either highlighting them or using track changes (uploaded as a *supporting information* file)

A clean copy of the edited manuscript (uploaded as the new *manuscript* file)

3. We note that your Data Availability Statement is currently as follows: All relevant data are within the manuscript and its Supporting Information files.

Please confirm at this time whether or not your submission contains all raw data required to replicate the results of your study. Authors must share the “minimal data set” for their submission. PLOS defines the minimal data set to consist of the data required to replicate all study findings reported in the article, as well as related metadata and methods (https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/data-availability#loc-minimal-data-set-definition).

For example, authors should submit the following data:

- The values behind the means, standard deviations and other measures reported;

- The values used to build graphs;

- The points extracted from images for analysis.

Authors do not need to submit their entire data set if only a portion of the data was used in the reported study.

If your submission does not contain these data, please either upload them as Supporting Information files or deposit them to a stable, public repository and provide us with the relevant URLs, DOIs, or accession numbers. For a list of recommended repositories, please see https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/recommended-repositories.

If there are ethical or legal restrictions on sharing a de-identified data set, please explain them in detail (e.g., data contain potentially sensitive information, data are owned by a third-party organization, etc.) and who has imposed them (e.g., an ethics committee). Please also provide contact information for a data access committee, ethics committee, or other institutional body to which data requests may be sent. If data are owned by a third party, please indicate how others may request data access.

[Note: HTML markup is below. Please do not edit.]

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: Yes

Reviewer #2: Partly

**********

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

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

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: No

**********

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: Yes

Reviewer #2: No

**********

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, the manuscript entitled Rhus vulgaris Fruit-Mediated Silver Nanoparticles: Synthesis, Characterization, and

Potential for Sun Protection, Antioxidant and Antibacterial Applications was written good but still needs to be revised with the following points.

1. The abstract can be modified and rewritten.

2. The significance of R. vulgaris can be focused in the first part of the introduction.

3. The exploration of AgNPs can be effectively written in the introduction with specific biological properties.

4. Subheadings plant collection and preparation of plant extracts can be merged together and write in simplified manner.

5. Remove the subheadings of characterization part and merge together.

6. Why has the author done only one antioxidant activity?

7. The optimization part can be emphasized more with some more factors.

8. The discussion related with AgNPs towards skin related research can be discussed more.

9. Check for overall grammatical errors and sentence framing.

Reviewer #2: Authors presented “Rhus vulgaris Fruit-Mediated Silver Nanoparticles: Synthesis, Characterization, and Potential for Sun Protection, Antioxidant and Antibacterial Applications”, however, it requires more characterization part.

Authors should include and explain the below comments in the revised manuscript

1. Abstract should be rewrite, and should summarize the reason for the work, the most significant results, and the conclusions.

2. In introduction part, several categories of metallic NPs by green synthesis such as Au, Ag, Zno, Pd, TiO2, Cu, etc, have been reported with improved biomimetic attributes. Include these metal and metal oxide NPs with reference, Au (Phytosynthesis of gold nanoparticles using Caesalpinia pulcherrima (peacock flower) flower extract and evaluation of their antimicrobial activities) Ag (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.10.048), ZnO and Cu (https://doi.org/10.1007/s43630-022-00224-0), Fe and Pd (DOI: 10.1039/C5CY00099H), etc.

3. Synthetic part: Why the authors used Rhus vulgaris Fruit extract only instead of other extract?

4. So many reports already published using the Rhus vulgaris Fruit extracts for the synthesis of AgNPs and biomedical application studies?

5. UV and IR spectral image should be clear, IR is not clear better to remove it

6. Characterization part: all figures including IR, TEM, should be clear

7. XRD for AgNPs required with clear hkl values (111, 200, 220, 311, 222 for AgNPs) and explain the hkl values

8. Single particle or HRTEM should be included with EDAX

9. Author should explain how the average size of AgNPs is 10 nm to 20 nm?

10. In addition, the lattice fringe spacings or D spacing hkl should be included

11. For antioxidant activity: author performed DPPH, what about ABTS, and NOx radical scavenging analyses? Compare and refer (https://doi.org/10.2147/IJN.S210517)

12. For antibacterial activity refer (DOI 10.1088/2053-1591/ad1357)

13. Compare the current work with previously published reports for AgNPs in separate table

14. Conclusions should be rewrite

15. Major English edition is required for whole manuscript

**********

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.

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: No

Reviewer #2: 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.

Revision 1

Response to Reviewers comment

The authors thank all of the reviewers for their valuable insights and comments on the manuscript With title “Rhus vulgaris Meikle Fruit-Mediated Silver Nanoparticles: Synthesis, Characterization, and Potential for Sun Protection, Antioxidant and Antibacterial Applications ”. The reviewers’ comments have been taken into consideration and the manuscript has been revised properly accordingly. The revised manuscript shows the changes with red color text for your purview and kind consideration. The response to each comment has also been given below

Reviewers' comments

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

1. Is the manuscript technically sounds, 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

Response for reviewer 1 comment: Thank you for your comments

Reviewer #2: Partly

Response for reviewer 2 comment: In our study, we have implemented rigorous experimental designs, including appropriate controls, adequate replication, and sufficient sample sizes to ensure the reliability and validity of our findings. Each experiment was carefully designed to minimize bias and variability, allowing us to draw robust conclusions based on the data collected. we made our conclusion is in line with the data

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

Reviewer #1: Yes

Response for reviewer 1 comment: Thank you for your comments

Reviewer #2: Yes

Response for reviewer comment #1: Thank you for your comments

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

Response for reviewer 1 comment: Thank you for your comments

Reviewer #2: No

Response for reviewer comment #2: Thank you for your comments regarding the PLOS Data policy. we have included all relevant data as part of the manuscript's supporting information. This includes not only summary statistics but also the individual data points that contribute to the means, medians, and variance measures presented in our findings.

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: Yes

Response for reviewer 1 comment: Thank you for your comments

Reviewer #2: No:

Response for reviewer comment #1: We have thoroughly reviewed the manuscript to identify and correct any typographical or grammatical errors. We have made revisions to ensure that the language is clear, correct, and unambiguous throughout the text

5. Review Comments to the Author

(a) Reviewer 1 comments

Dear Author, the manuscript entitled Rhus vulgaris Fruit-Mediated Silver Nanoparticles: Synthesis, Characterization, and Potential for Sun Protection, Antioxidant and Antibacterial Applications was written good but still needs to be revised with the following points.

Comment #1: The abstract can be modified and rewritten.

Response for comment #1: As per comments corrections are made on the manuscripts line number 19 to 39

Comment #2: The significance of R. vulgaris can be focused in the first part of the introduction.

Response for comment #2: Thank you for your suggestion regarding the placement of information about the significance of R. vulgaris in the introduction. As per comments corrections are made on the manuscripts line number 50 to 57

Comment #3: The exploration of AgNPs can be effectively written in the introduction with specific biological properties.

Response for comment #3: Thank you for your insightful comment regarding the exploration of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and their specific biological properties. As per comments corrections are made on the manuscripts line number 76 to 86.

Comment #4: Subheadings plant collection and preparation of plant extracts can be merged together and write in simplified manner.

Response for comment #4: As per comments corrections are made on line number 95 to 102. We marge three sub topics together and include under subtitle sample collection and preparation. we removed unnecessary additional information.

Comment #5: Remove the subheadings of characterization part and merge together.

Response for comment #5: As per comments corrections are made on line number 138 to 154. We marge all characterization techniques together and include under subtitle Characterization Techniques. We removed unnecessary additional information

Comment #6: Why has the author done only one antioxidant activity?

Response for comment #6: Thank you very much for your comments. We used only one antioxidant assay such as DPPH is due to its simplicity, reliability, and relevance to the study's goals, as well as practical considerations regarding resources and time.

Comment #7: The optimization part can be emphasized more with some more factors.

Response for comment #7: Thank you for your valuable feedback regarding the optimization section of my work. I appreciate your insights and would like to take this opportunity to elaborate on the optimization aspects and the factors that contribute to its synthesis silver nanoparticles. To synthesize silver nanoparticles, several critical parameters must be optimized, including pH, temperature, concentration, and reaction time. Our research work of existing research has highlighted the significant impact of these factors on the synthesis process. Therefore, we have incorporated these optimization parameters into our study to ensure the effective and efficient production of silver nanoparticles

Comment #8: The discussion related with AgNPs towards skin related research can be discussed more.

Response for comment #8: Thank you very much for the comments. As per comments we include the feedbacks in line number 460 to 472

Comment #9. Check for overall grammatical errors and sentence framing.

Response for comment #9: We have thoroughly reviewed the manuscript to identify and correct any typographical or grammatical errors. We have made revisions to ensure that the language is clear, correct, and unambiguous throughout the text

(b) Reviewer #2 comments

Authors presented “Rhus vulgaris Fruit-Mediated Silver Nanoparticles: Synthesis, Characterization, and Potential for Sun Protection, Antioxidant and Antibacterial Applications”, however, it requires more characterization part.

Authors should include and explain the below comments in the revised manuscript

Comment #1: Abstract should be rewrite, and should summarize the reason for the work, the most significant results, and the conclusions.

Response for comment #1: As per comments corrections are made on line number 19 to 39.

Comment #2: In introduction part, several categories of metallic NPs by green synthesis such as Au, Ag, Zno, Pd, TiO2, Cu, etc, have been reported with improved biomimetic attributes. Include these metal and metal oxide NPs with reference, Au (Phytosynthesis of gold nanoparticles using Caesalpinia pulcherrima (peacock flower) flower extract and evaluation of their antimicrobial activities) Ag (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.10.048), ZnO and Cu (https://doi.org/10.1007/s43630-022-00224-0), Fe and Pd (DOI: 10.1039/C5CY00099H), etc.

Response for comment #2: Thank you for the commons. As per comments corrections are made on line number 77 to 87

Comment #3. Synthetic part: Why the authors used Rhus vulgaris Fruit extract only instead of other extract?

Response comment #3: Thank you very much for the comment. Since there hasn't been any earlier research on using Rhus vulgaris fruit extract to synthesize silver nanoparticles, we chose it. Rhus vulgaris is also known for its distinct phytochemical profile, traditional therapeutic use, and antioxidant qualities. Our selection of this specific extract is further supported by its accessibility and applicability to the goals of our investigation.

Comment #4: So many reports already published using the Rhus vulgaris Fruit extracts for the synthesis of AgNPs and biomedical application studies?

Response for comment #4: Thank you very much for your comment. There are several research works on Rhus vulgaris Fruit extracts and its biomedical application. However, as much as we know there is no research works on biomedical application using silver nanoparticle mediated by fruit extract of Rhus vulgaris for sun screening application, antioxidant and antibacterial activities

Comment #5. UV and IR spectral image should be clear, IR is not clear better to remove it

Response for comment #5: As per comments corrections are made. We changed the UV, and IR peaks to be clear figure 3 and 4 (line number 354 and 374)

Comment #6: Characterization part: all figures including IR, TEM, should be clear

Response for comment #6: As per comments corrections are made. We changed the IR, and TEM peaks to be clear.(line number 449)

Comment #7: XRD for AgNPs required with clear hkl values (111, 200, 220, 311, 222 for AgNPs) and explain the hkl values

Response for comment #7: As per comments corrections are made. We included hkl vale (111, 200, 220, 311, 222 for AgNPs) in XRD peaks in Figure 6 line 402 and in the text line number 389 to 392

Comment #8: Single particle or HRTEM should be included with EDAX

Response for comment #8: Thank you very much for nice comments. Because of the instruments available, for particle size determination, we utilized transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and to detect the presence of silver (Ag) metal, we employed UV-Vis spectroscopy due to the availability of instruments. In our future work we will include this nice comments

Comment #9: Author should explain how the average size of AgNPs is 10 nm to 20 nm?

Response for comment #9: Thank you very much for the comments. Using TEM image and imaje software the average size nanoparticle was calculated. This is indicated in line number 440 to 441

Comment #10: In addition, the lattice fringe spacings or D spacing hkl should be included

Response for comment #10: As per comments corrections are made on line number 396 to 397

Comment #11: For antioxidant activity: author performed DPPH, what about ABTS, and NOx radical scavenging analyses? Compare and refer (https://doi.org/10.2147/IJN.S210517)

Response for comment #11: Thank you very much for your comments. We used only one antioxidant assay such as DPPH is due to its simplicity, reliability, and relevance to the study's goals, as well as practical considerations regarding resources and time. As per comments corrections are made on line number 546 to 552

Comment #12. For antibacterial activity refer (DOI 10.1088/2053-1591/ad1357)

Response for comment #12: Thank you for your comments. As per comments corrections are made in line number 635 to 641

Comment #13. Compare the current work with previously published reports for AgNPs in separate table

Response for comment #13: As per corrections are made. We added new table (Table 3) that compare current work with other result in line number 404 to 433

Comment #14. Conclusions should be rewrite

Response for comment #14: As per comments corrections are made on line number 656-674

Comment #15. Major English edition is required for whole manuscript

Response for comment #15: We checked the English edition throughout the paper

Attachments
Attachment
Submitted filename: Response for reviwer comment.docx
Decision Letter - Chellasamy Panneerselvam, Editor

Rhus vulgaris Meikle Fruit-Mediated Silver Nanoparticles: Synthesis, Characterization, and Potential for Sun Protection, Antioxidant and Antibacterial Applications

PONE-D-24-53986R1

Dear Dr. Limenew Abate Worku

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,

Chellasamy Panneerselvam

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Comments from PLOS Editorial Office : We note that one or more reviewers has recommended that you cite specific previously published works. As always, we recommend that you please review and evaluate the requested works to determine whether they are relevant and should be cited. It is not a requirement to cite these works. We appreciate your attention to this request.

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

**********

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

**********

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

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

**********

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

**********

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

**********

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: The manuscript is written with adequate data related to the analysis carried out and is publishable.

Reviewer #2: The authors have adequately addressed all comments raised in a previous round of review and I feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication.

**********

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: No

Reviewer #2: No

**********

Formally Accepted
Acceptance Letter - Chellasamy Panneerselvam, Editor

PONE-D-24-53986R1

PLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Abate,

I'm pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been deemed suitable for publication in PLOS ONE. Congratulations! Your manuscript is now being handed over to our production team.

At this stage, our production department will prepare your paper for publication. This includes ensuring the following:

* All references, tables, and figures are properly cited

* All relevant supporting information is included in the manuscript submission,

* There are no issues that prevent the paper from being properly typeset

You will receive further instructions from the production team, including instructions on how to review your proof when it is ready. Please keep in mind that we are working through a large volume of accepted articles, so please give us a few days to review your paper and let you know the next and final steps.

Lastly, if your institution or institutions have a press office, please let them know about your upcoming paper now to help maximize its impact. If they'll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team within the next 48 hours. 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.

If we can help with anything else, please email us at customercare@plos.org.

Thank you for submitting your work to PLOS ONE and supporting open access.

Kind regards,

PLOS ONE Editorial Office Staff

on behalf of

Dr. Chellasamy Panneerselvam

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Open letter on the publication of peer review reports

PLOS recognizes the benefits of transparency in the peer review process. Therefore, we enable the publication of all of the content of peer review and author responses alongside final, published articles. Reviewers remain anonymous, unless they choose to reveal their names.

We encourage other journals to join us in this initiative. We hope that our action inspires the community, including researchers, research funders, and research institutions, to recognize the benefits of published peer review reports for all parts of the research system.

Learn more at ASAPbio .