Peer Review History

Original SubmissionJuly 30, 2023
Decision Letter - Qunxi Gong, Editor

PONE-D-23-24153Logistics capacity measurement and spatial-temporal characteristics analysis: A case study of the Yangtze River Economic Belt in ChinaPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Yinnan,

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 01 2023 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:

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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,

Qunxi Gong

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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“Independent Research fund of Joint National-Local Engineering Research Centre for Safe and Precise Coal Mining(Anhui University of Science and Technology)(NO. EC2021013)

Anhui Province quality engineering teaching research project(NO. 2022jyxm1437“

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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: Partly

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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: No

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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: The authors measure the logistics capacity of Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2016 to 2020 using entropy weighted TOPSIS approach, and analyze the spatio-temporal characteristics through spatial autocorrelation models. The manuscript provides a detailed analysis process and extensive results. However, the research significance and innovations are not fully demonstrated. Major revisions are needed to enhance the suitability for publication. The main comments are as follows:

1 Introduction

(1) The author does not clearly explain the innovation of this paper. The innovativeness of this study needs to be highlighted(Page 5). Elaborating the new methods or perspectives adopted in this study would help justify the value and advancement of this work. For example, adopting an comprehensive indicator system to measure provincial logistics capacity.

(2)The literature review mainly reviews the relevant research on logistics capability from the micro and macro aspects (Page 5-6). It can supplement the summary of existing regional logistics capacity evaluation studies, such as the evaluation dimensions, index system and research area of different studies, and clarify the differences between this study and existing studies.

2 Methods

(1) The correspondence between the index system and the dimensions of logistics capability assessment was not established. (Page 10). The authors should explain the rationale behind choosing these specific indicators and how they connect with logistics capacity.

(2) The phenomenon of high correlation between indicators but lack of processing may lead to information redundancy(Page 10). For example, Per capita freight volume and per capita port throughput are correlated to some extent, especially for regions where ports are the main logistics hubs.

3 Results

(1)For the spatial autocorrelation analysis results (Page 17), consider relating the identified spatial patterns to geographic and socioeconomic factors of the provinces, to help explain the clustering.

(2) The multiple linear regression model (Page 19-20) may be overly simplistic. For example, it does not consider spatial effects (spatial autocorrelation/spatial dependence) and individual heterogeneity across provinces. Advanced econometric modeling techniques could help address these issues and enhance the explanatory power. This includes spatial autoregressive models to account for spatial interaction effects, spatial error models for spatial dependence in residuals, as well as panel models with fixed/random effects to control for unobserved provincial characteristics.

4 Discussion

(1) In summarizing the research findings (Page 20), the core contributions and implications of this study could be further accentuated, instead of just restating the results.

(2) The policy recommendations (Page 20) could be more specific, like tailored strategies for different provinces to have practical utility.

5 Others

(1)Most of the references are very old and lack the tracking of recent research frontiers. It is suggested to supplement the relevant literature in the last five years, especially the new progress of logistics development in the Yangtze River region, so as to highlight the innovation of the research.

Reviewer #2: The author uses TOPSS method of entropy weight to measure the logistics capacity of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, analyzes the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of the logistics capacity of the region by drawing the spatial and temporal evolution of the logistics capacity of the region, and gives suggestions for future development. The research topic is interesting and of great significance for the target area. However, the current manuscript has several problems and does not allow for professional publication. I sincerely suggest that the author carefully revise and prepare for future submissions. My suggestions and comments on the manuscript are as follows:

The main problem is that the current manuscript is imprecise, unclear, and contains a large number of punctuation errors. An example of this situation is the sentence on page 11 lines 27 through 29:

“Although there have been many studies on regional logistics capability, the current research on logistics capability mainly focuses on the logistics capability of enterprises and ports, with few studies focusing on regional logistics capability“

I think this sentence is contradictory in its presentation

On the other hand, the basic requirement of a scientific article is to use correct and precise mathematical expressions. However, this text still exists

a) The equation numbering format is not uniform, for example, the numbering format of Formula (5) on page 15 is not uniform with other equation numbering formats on this page.

b) Lack of definition, such as x+ and x- variables on page 14.

These incorrect contents greatly reduce the readability of this article. The existing manuscripts are considered rich in research results, but need to have the right content for professional publication. Therefore, I sincerely advise the author to take enough time to revise carefully to prevent inaccurate expression and content.

Here are some other tips:

1) the sentence "In the 1980s, in lines 13 to 14 and 22 to 23 on page 9, scholars carried out extensive and in-depth research on the logistics capability of enterprises [3-5]. “, “Enterprises can use and can allocate resources reasonably to achieve maximum efficiency and improving customer care needs [6,7,8,9,11]. "Literature reviews should avoid cluster citations, recommend a brief description of the novel contributions of each paper cited, and reduce the number of references that are sub-related to the research direction of the article."

2) There are errors in the format of references, refer to the journal's reference style for the exact format of these references, as well as the use of punctuation and capitalization.

3) In the conclusion, in addition to summarizing the actions and results taken, please strengthen the explanation of their significance. It is recommended to use quantitative reasoning for comparison with appropriate benchmarks, especially those derived from previous work.

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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.

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

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Revision 1

Dear Reviewer,

Thank you for providing us with these suggestions to revise and improve the quality of our article. These comments were all valuable and very helpful.

We regret that our paper does not meet your expectations. We have reread the article and made comprehensive changes. We still implore you to give us an opportunity, which is crucial for us.

We have carefully read your comments and have tried our best to revise our manuscript based on these valuable and useful comments. Please find attached the revised version and the supplemental files, which we would like to submit for your kind consideration.

Attachments
Attachment
Submitted filename: Response to Reviewers.docx
Decision Letter - Qunxi Gong, Editor

PONE-D-23-24153R1Analysis of logistics capacity, influencing factors and spatial spillover effect in Yangtze River Economic BeltPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Yinnan,

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 Apr 15 2024 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,

Qunxi Gong

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Journal Requirements:

Please review your reference list to ensure that it is complete and correct. If you have cited papers that have been retracted, please include the rationale for doing so in the manuscript text, or remove these references and replace them with relevant current references. Any changes to the reference list should be mentioned in the rebuttal letter that accompanies your revised manuscript. If you need to cite a retracted article, indicate the article’s retracted status in the References list and also include a citation and full reference for the retraction notice.

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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: 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

**********

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

Reviewer #1: 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

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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

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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 authors have made a commendable effort to address the concerns raised in the initial review. They have clarified the innovation of the paper by highlighting the comprehensive index system for measuring provincial logistics capacity and the use of spatial econometrics methods to analyze influencing factors and spatial spillover effects. The literature review has been expanded to include a summary of existing regional logistics capacity evaluation studies, which helps to situate this study within the broader field of research.

The authors have also improved the correspondence between the index system and the dimensions of logistics capability assessment by explaining the rationale behind the selection of specific indicators. The issue of high correlation between indicators has been addressed by refining the index system and ensuring that it is more representative of the logistics capacity.

The spatial autocorrelation analysis has been enhanced by relating the identified spatial patterns to geographic and socioeconomic factors of the provinces, which provides a more nuanced understanding of the clustering observed. The multiple linear regression model has been replaced with a spatial econometric model, which accounts for spatial interaction effects and individual heterogeneity across provinces, significantly improving the explanatory power of the analysis.

The discussion section has been strengthened by accentuating the core contributions and implications of the study, rather than merely restating the results. The policy recommendations have been made more specific, tailored to the needs of different provinces, which increases the practical utility of the study.

The authors have also updated the references to include recent research, which helps to highlight the innovation of the study and situates it within the current research frontier.

Overall, the manuscript has been significantly improved, and the authors have shown a willingness to address the concerns raised. However, there are still some areas that could be improved:

1.The authors should ensure that the revised manuscript is free of punctuation errors and hat the references are formatted consistently with the journal's guidelines.

2.The authors should provide a more detailed explanation of the methodology used, especially the rationale behind the selection of the spatial weighting matrix and the interpretation of the spatial econometric model results.

3.The authors should consider discussing the limitations of the study, such as the potential for spatial heterogeneity within provinces and the assumptions made in the spatial econometric model.

Given the improvements and the remaining areas for further work, I recommend the manuscript for publication with minor revisions.

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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

**********

[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 2

Dear Reviewer,

It is our great honor to receive the comments on my paper from you. Those comments are all valuable and very helpful for revising and improving our paper.

We have studied the comments carefully and have made corrections which we hope meet the approval. Revised portions are marked in blue on the paper. You can find them in the attached files uploading. If there are any errors, please notify us. We will correct them accordingly.

Once again, thank you very much for your comments and suggestions.

Comment 1: The authors should ensure that the revised manuscript is free of punctuation errors and hat the references are formatted consistently with the journal’s guidelines.

Response 1: We thank the reviewer for raising this question. We should do the work that the sentences of articles are smooth, the punctuation is standardized and the format of articles conforms to the requirements of periodical format. We will carefully revise to ensure that such issues are addressed. Thank you very much!

Revise 1:(pages 26-28 lines 853-956)

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People's Republic of China. The National Development and Reform Commission issued a notice on the Layout Plan of the Yangtze River Trunk Crossing Passage (2020-2035). 2020,3. Available from: https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2020-04/08/content_5500124.htm

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Comment 2: The authors should provide a more detailed explanation of the methodology used, especially the rationale behind the selection of the spatial weighting matrix and the interpretation of the spatial econometric model results.

Response2: Thank you for your very good advice. We have added a description of the methodology used in the correspondence section.

Revise 2:(pages 8,9 lines303-320)

The traditional measurement model only studies the influence of individual independent variables on individual dependent variables, while the spatial measurement model further explores the influence of individual independent variables on other individual dependent variables on the basis of traditional measurement. Therefore, the greatest feature of spatial metrology is to fully consider the spatial correlation between cross-sectional units. Spatial correlation refers to the spatial interdependence, mutual restriction, mutual influence and interaction between things and phenomena in different regions. It is the inherent spatial economic attribute of things and phenomena, and the essential attribute of geographical spatial phenomena and spatial processes. The spatial correlation is caused by the proximity of geographical location, the competition and cooperation of individuals at the cross-section level, the group imitation behavior, the spillover effect of economic activities and the measurement error. Therefore, in the actual construction of the model, how to incorporate the spatial effects of economic variables into the model, it is necessary to establish a spatial weight matrix according to some standards. To define the spatial weight, we must first quantify the position of the spatial unit, which usually includes neighborhood space distance, geographical distance, economic distance and industrial distance.

Comment 3: The authors should consider discussing the limitations of the study, such as the potential for spatial heterogeneity within provinces and the assumptions made in the spatial econometric model.

Response 3: Thank you for your suggestion. This is a very good suggestion. According to your suggestion, we have added content to the article about the limitations of the study.

Revise 3:(page25,26 lines 836-851)

It should be noted that this study also has some limitations. First, it is limited by the availability of data. This paper only uses the panel data of provinces and cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2016 to 2020 for empirical research. Future research may consider using the data of prefecture-level cities to get more specific conclusions and put forward more specific policy recommendations. Second, there is no unified standard for the evaluation of logistics capability. Although 20 indicators were selected to measure the level of logistics capacity in various provinces and cities, it is difficult to fully consider the influencing factors of logistics capacity in the research due to the extensive content of logistics capacity and the difficulty in obtaining some measurement indicators. Therefore, how to accurately measure the regional logistics capability is still a problem that needs to be solved in the future. Finally, in the analysis of the spatial spillover effect of the regional logistics capacity of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, only some factors are selected for spatial factor analysis, which may have the influence of spatial autocorrelation of unobserved factors, resulting in missing variables bias. Relevant influencing factors can be further enriched in the subsequent research.

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Decision Letter - Qunxi Gong, Editor

Analysis of logistics capacity, influencing factors and spatial spillover effect in Yangtze River Economic Belt

PONE-D-23-24153R2

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Formally Accepted
Acceptance Letter - Qunxi Gong, Editor

PONE-D-23-24153R2

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