-->PONE-D-25-10342-->-->Impact assessment for just transition of protein production systems-->-->PLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Sandhu,

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,

Andrey Nagdalian

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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2. Thank you for stating the following financial disclosure:

 [HS was awared the grant by Federation University Australia and Aleph Farms Joint Research grant G2355.

https://www.federation.edu.au/

https://aleph-farms.com/

Priyambada Joshi, PhD candidate received stipend/financial support from this joint research grant by Federation University Australia and Aleph Farms.]. 

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Additional Editor Comments (if provided):

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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: Yes

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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: Yes

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: The manuscript is technically sound, has sufficient sample sizes, controls and replicates that have undergone statistical processing. The work is presented using a large amount of data indicating the relevance of the development. Due to the fact that the relevance of this problem remains for a long time, for the appropriate conclusions, it is advisable to refer to modern works touching on similar topics, for example, in the following publications: DOI 10.1163/23524588-20230025; Development of a technology for the isolation and purification of insectoprotein from Zophobas morio biomass / I. V. Rzhepakovsky, P. A. Trushov, S. N. Povetkin, A. A. Naghdalyan // Modern science and innovation. - 2018. - No. 2 (22). - P. 85-91. - EDN VMYUHK.; Zophobas Morio Semi Industrial Cultivation Peculiarities / A. A. Nagdalian, S. V. Pushkin, I. V. Rzhepakovsky [et al.] // Entomology and Applied Science Letters. – 2018. – Vol. 5, No. 2. – P. 108-113. – EDN WFWHYJ.; Why does the protein turn black while extracting it from insects biomass? / A. A. Nagdalian, N. P. Oboturova, S. N. Povetkin [et al.] // Journal of Hygienic Engineering and Design. – 2019. – Vol. 29. – P. 145-150. – EDN POKELO.; https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202453703007. The text should be carefully checked for typos and grammatical errors.

Reviewer #2: Date: 24/04/2025. 

COMMENTS FOR THE EDITOR & AUTHORS. 

Dear Editors,

I have reviewed the manuscript "Impact assessment for just transition of protein production systems". The following minor points need to be addressed for further improvement of the article.

1.      The manuscript must include the recent research works on  application to protein production systems, especially from the past 5 years.2.      Introduction Section-Authors should justify here why this study is important and should state the uniqueness of this study.

3.      Please include the recent references for broad readers to understand the

importance of protein production from various sources and in the industrial applications.

4.      There are numerous grammatical errors and they significantly affect the flow of ideas. Please check through the MS.

5.      Please add line numbers for easy identification of specific lines in the manuscript during review.

6.   Research would be nice if you could include the latest updates on recent studies.

7. check thoroughly all typographical errors and references action should follow the journal guidelines.

8. conclusions need to elaborate and make more clarity.

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: No

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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.-->

Impact assessment for just transition of protein production systems

PONE-D-25-10342R1

Dear Dr. Harpinder Sandhu,

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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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,

Andrey Nagdalian

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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: The text should be carefully checked for typos and grammatical errors. The work is formatted using data indicating the relevance of the problem. The manuscript is technically sound, has sufficient sample sizes, controls and replicas that have undergone statistical processing.

Reviewer #2: I consider that the authors significantly improved their manuscript and I recommend to be published in the present form.

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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: No

Reviewer #2: Yes:  Govindarajan Rasiravathanahalli Kaveriyappan

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