The telephone game, or clear as crystal? How to effectively craft responses to reviewer comments

Abstract

This brief note focuses on how to communicate with reviewers through the response letter. Specifically, we elaborate on how to minimize the risk that reviewers underestimate the quality of the study because of poor communication in the response letter. We outline ideas for how to plan and organize a revision, and then crafting the response letter. We organize the discussion around how common writing rules, such as “Make it simple to read” and “Write for the target audience”, may apply to response letters but need adaptation to be effective. In summary, while the changes made in the actual paper are most important in any revision, this note provides an additional resource to use in order to increase the chances that the revised paper reaches its greatest potential.