Thread by @JonWolfMueller

As scientific author, reviewer and editor, I wrote quite some rebuttals and read even more.

“Jon, you are really good at rebuttals”, a colleague said to me the other day.

So, here are my Top Tips for getting your rebuttal letter into good shape.

[1/11] Most important rule: Whatever happens, never respond in a rush.

Should the reviewers’ comments stir you up emotionally, DO let them rest for a day or two before you write a response.

Good practice to write a response in word and/or send it exclusively to yourself!

[2/11] You want the editor to read your rebuttal constantly agreeing with you. So please make sure that it is ultra-clear & a joy to read.

Don’t force them to scroll up-or-down. Should Ref3 & Ref1 have the same question, just repeat your answer, maybe with a bit paraphrasing.

[3/11] Some reviewers provide rich & dense text. Feel free to break it down sentence-wise, so that you clearly address each and every little bit of the comments.

Don’t provide a wordy reply to a wordy question. It smells as if you waffle over some tricky bits.

#Divide&Conquer

[4/11] DON’T apologize for ANYTHING from the old version of the manuscript. Just do better! This rebuttal is all about the current, massively improved version!

I would not call a single thing in the old manuscript a “mistake” (a typo at most)… Just factually state how it is now

[5/11] Get the “tone” right…

I tend to be “aggressively” friendly and polite in a rebuttal, but do not leave any doubt at all about …that we have done something…

Do not “attempt to address” reviewer comments, but DO address them…

[6/11] Be very conscious with the words you use.

Have a dedicated proofing round to kill #WeakWords - DO NOT use “some”, “a bit” or “many”, but tangible numbers & values in your response.

An editor might look more for the pitch of your writing than the actual response.

[7/11]

Formatting-wise, I would always put reviewers’ comments and response written differently to our reply:

Have the reviewers’ comments in 10pt font size, shaded in gray, but write our response in 11pt font size in bold black writing.

Never the other way around!

[8/11] As an author, I would NEVER thank for the TIME that reviewers spent with the manuscript.

I would always thank them for their intellectual input and their comments and ideas…

After all, peer review is about quality of the review, not about how long it took…

[9/11] If you have to cite scientific papers (e.g. your own awesome new preprint somewhere), do give the reference in full where it is needed.

Should a Ref# have asked you for some exact values, please do say those numbers out loud - don’t force them to look them up externally

[10/11] Should there be a thing in the response letter very unclear or very insulting, no one is stopping you from paraphrasing the reviewer’s comments in your rebuttal - to soften, correcting and/or reframing them …

…but please use this one sparingly.

[11/11] I hope that these tips are useful, when grafting your next rebuttal.

Some of these tips might even be good to consider for your scientific writing in general.

All the best with your next publications. Please do share your opinions and ideas with me.