A cross-sectional study into the prevalence and conformational risk factors of BOAS across fourteen brachycephalic dog breeds

Francesca Tomlinson; Nai-Chieh Liu; David R. Sargan; Jane F. Ladlow

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0340604

Peer Review History

Original SubmissionMay 8, 2025
5 Nov 2025 Decision Letter - James Cray Jr, Editor Dear Dr. Tomlinson, 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 Dec 20 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. 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'. 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Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English??> Reviewer #1: Yes ****** Reviewer #1: The paper is well written, logical and adds to the growing knowledge about brachycephaly. I have minor comments only. 128. Please change in this study to in that study to avoid confusion that you are talking about the referenced one. 139 can you comment briefly why you chose these 14 breeds of all the other slightly brachycephalic ones? 556. Chihuahua is misspelled. P values are discussed with both capital and lower case. I don’t think it matters, but please be consistent. ****** 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? 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Revision 1
5 Dec 2025 Author Response Francesca Tomlinson Department of Veterinary Medicine University of Cambridge Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ES ft270@cam.ac.uk 07/05/2025 Editor-in-Chief PLOS One Dear Editor, Thank you very much for the opportunity to revise our manuscript, “A cross-sectional study into the prevalence and conformational risk factors of BOAS across fourteen brachycephalic dog breeds” [PONE-D-25-24732]. I appreciate the comments provided by you and the reviewers, which have helped us improve the clarity and quality of the manuscript. I have carefully considered each comment and revised the manuscript accordingly. Below, we provide a detailed point-by-point response. All changes in the revised manuscript are tracked as requested. I have also made minor formatting and grammatical edits throughout the manuscript and added references to the Tables and Figures throughout. Additionally, during revision, the manuscript was carefully reviewed, and I identified a small number of remaining values that had not been updated after earlier corrections which had been implemented prior to the initial submission (resolving previous duplicate records or misclassified breeds in the raw data). We have now updated these values in the Results (lines 268-270) and supplementary information Table 3 and 4 (previously 2 and 3). These minor adjustments do not affect the study’s overall findings or conclusions. In the period since the original submission, there was an extended delay while suitable reviewers were sought. During this additional time, we were able to complete some further descriptive analysis of other clinical findings observed during the examinations. We have included these data as a new Supplementary Table (Table S2). This table presents only descriptive percentages of additional health issues noted in the study population and is intended solely to provide additional context. These data do not alter the study design, primary analyses, results, or conclusions in any way. We have noted this addition in the revised manuscript and hope that including these supplementary details will enhance transparency and provide useful additional information for readers. Please note, the naming of Supplementary Information Tables S2-S4 have shifted to S3-S5, due to this addition. Point-by-Point Responses Reviewer #1 1. Comment: 128. Please change in this study to in that study to avoid confusion that you are talking about the referenced one. Response: Amended. 2. Comment: 139 can you comment briefly why you chose these 14 breeds of all the other slightly brachycephalic ones? Response: We have now included a comment on the selection of these breeds on lines 137-139. “Fourteen brachycephalic breeds were selected to capture a broad range of brachycephalic phenotypes, including both extreme and more moderate conformations. Due to practical constraints of the study, the list was not intended to be exhaustive.” 3. Comment: 556. Chihuahua is misspelled. Response: Amended. 4. Comment: P values are discussed with both capital and lower case. I don’t think it matters, but please be consistent. Response: Amended throughout manuscript. Editor’s Comments 1. Comment: Please ensure that your manuscript meets PLOS ONE's style requirements, including those for file naming. Response: Checked requirements met and minor formatting issues amended. 2. Comment: We note that Figure 1 in your submission contain copyrighted images. We require you to either (a) present written permission from the copyright holder to publish these figures specifically under the CC BY 4.0 license, or (b) remove the figures from your submission: Response: Copyright permission form attached in submission. Amended figure title to include copyright permission statement. 3. Comment: Please ensure that you refer to Figures 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8 in your text as, if accepted, production will need this reference to link the reader to the figures. Response: Amended. All figures referenced in text. 4. Comment: We note you have included a table to which you do not refer in the text of your manuscript. Please ensure that you refer to Table 2 in your text; if accepted, production will need this reference to link the reader to the Table. Response: Amended. All tables referenced in text. 5. Comment: If the reviewer comments include a recommendation to cite specific previously published works, please review and evaluate these publications to determine whether they are relevant and should be cited. There is no requirement to cite these works unless the editor has indicated otherwise. Response: N/A 6. Comment: Please review your reference list to ensure that it is complete and correct. Response: Reference list hads been checked and minor formatting issues amended. We hope that the revisions meet expectations required and look forward to hearing from you again. We would like to thank you again for your time and consideration. Yours faithfully, Dr Francesca Tomlinson BOAS Research Group Dept. of Veterinary Medicine University of Cambridge ft270@cam.ac.uk https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0340604.r002
23 Dec 2025 Decision Letter - James Cray Jr, Editor A cross-sectional study into the prevalence and conformational risk factors of BOAS across fourteen brachycephalic dog breeds PONE-D-25-24732R1 Dear Dr. Tomlinson, 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. For questions related to billing, please contact billing support . 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, James J Cray Jr., Ph.D. Academic Editor PLOS One Additional Editor Comments (optional): Reviewers' comments: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0340604.r003
Formally Accepted
Acceptance Letter - James Cray Jr, Editor PONE-D-25-24732R1 PLOS One Dear Dr. Tomlinson, 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. You will receive an invoice from PLOS for your publication fee after your manuscript has reached the completed accept phase. If you receive an email requesting payment before acceptance or for any other service, this may be a phishing scheme. Learn how to identify phishing emails and protect your accounts at https://explore.plos.org/phishing. 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. James J Cray Jr. Academic Editor PLOS One https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0340604.r004

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