Revision Workflow Guide
This guide covers responding to peer review and managing the revision process.
When to Use This Skill
- •Drafting response letters to reviewers
- •Organizing and tracking manuscript changes
- •Addressing specific reviewer concerns
- •Planning revision strategy
Combine with: scientific-style for appropriate hedging, human-writing for clear prose.
Response Letter Structure
Header
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Response to Reviewers Manuscript ID: [ID] Title: [Title] Authors: [Authors] We thank the editor and reviewers for their constructive feedback. We have carefully considered each comment and revised the manuscript accordingly. Our point-by-point responses are below. Page and line numbers refer to the revised manuscript with track changes.
For Each Reviewer
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REVIEWER 1 Comment 1.1: [Quote or paraphrase the comment] Response: [Your response] Changes made: [Specific changes with page/line numbers, or "No changes made"] --- Comment 1.2: [Next comment] ...
Closing
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We believe these revisions have substantially improved the manuscript and hope it is now suitable for publication in [Journal]. Sincerely, [Corresponding author]
Response Strategies by Comment Type
| Comment Type | Strategy |
|---|---|
| Minor correction | Thank, agree, fix, cite location |
| Clarification request | Thank, explain, add text if needed |
| Additional analysis | Agree if feasible, explain if not, provide results |
| Methodological concern | Address directly, explain rationale, add detail |
| Interpretation disagreement | Acknowledge perspective, explain reasoning, modify if warranted |
| Literature gap | Thank, add citations, discuss relevance |
| Impossible request | Explain why, offer alternative |
Tone Guidelines
Do:
- •Thank reviewers for specific suggestions
- •Acknowledge valid concerns directly
- •Explain your reasoning clearly
- •Be professional and respectful
- •Separate agreement from action (you can agree something is unclear without agreeing with the proposed fix)
Don't:
- •Be defensive or argumentative
- •Dismiss concerns without explanation
- •Over-apologize or be obsequious
- •Make promises you can't keep
- •Ignore any comment (respond to everything)
Language Calibration
| Instead of | Use |
|---|---|
| "The reviewer is wrong" | "We respectfully disagree because..." |
| "We already said this" | "We have clarified this point by..." |
| "This is beyond scope" | "While this is an important question, it is beyond the scope of the current study because..." |
| "We can't do this" | "Unfortunately, [reason]. As an alternative, we have..." |
Handling Specific Situations
When You Agree
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We thank the reviewer for this suggestion. We have [made change] as recommended. See page X, lines Y-Z.
When You Partially Agree
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We appreciate this comment. While we agree that [aspect], we believe [other aspect] because [reasoning]. We have addressed this by [action].
When You Disagree
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We thank the reviewer for raising this point. We respectfully disagree because [clear reasoning with evidence]. However, we have [action to address underlying concern] to clarify our position.
When You Cannot Comply
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We appreciate this suggestion. Unfortunately, [specific reason why not feasible: data not available, beyond scope, etc.]. As an alternative, we have [what you did instead]. We have also added this as a limitation in the Discussion (page X, lines Y-Z).
Version Management
See CHANGE_TRACKING.md for detailed guidance on:
- •File naming conventions
- •Track changes best practices
- •Creating clean vs. marked copies
Common Reviewer Concerns
See COMMON_REVIEWER_CONCERNS.md for pre-written strategies for:
- •Sample size concerns
- •Statistical issues
- •Generalizability
- •Missing controls
- •Literature gaps
Response Letter Templates
See RESPONSE_TEMPLATES.md for fill-in templates.
Revision Process Checklist
Before Starting
- • Read all reviews completely before responding
- • Identify patterns across reviewers
- • Prioritize major vs. minor concerns
- • Assess feasibility of each request
- • Plan revision strategy
During Revision
- • Address one comment at a time
- • Make changes in manuscript immediately
- • Record page/line numbers as you go
- • Keep track changes on
- • Note any substantive additions for cover letter
Before Submitting
- • Every comment has a response
- • Every "Changes made" entry has location
- • Response letter matches manuscript changes
- • Clean copy and marked copy are consistent
- • Cover letter summarizes major changes
- • All file naming follows journal guidelines
Related Files
- •RESPONSE_TEMPLATES.md - Templates for common response types
- •CHANGE_TRACKING.md - Version control and tracking
- •COMMON_REVIEWER_CONCERNS.md - Pre-written strategies