SOP's

From Wikipedia

Contents 1 Keep the entire manuscript in a single google document:salient points 2 Steps to address reviewers' comments 2.1 1. Review the comments 2.2 2. Insert the comments in the manuscript Google doc 2.2.1 Google doc version 2.2.2 Distribution of the comments 2.3 3. Insert deadline 2.4 4. Address the comments 2.5 5. Prepare the Response letter 2.6 6. Refer journal requirements for the exact format of the revised paper submission

Keep the entire manuscript in a single google document:salient points

• helps to track the changes made
• helps to maintain the complete history of the article from beginning until it is completed and accepted by the journal
• could help in seeing the "natural history" of a paper to study the text structure and to show, how it started and changed over time evolving into a full manuscript

Steps to address reviewers' comments

1. Review the comments

• Review email, comments of all the reviewers and also journal editor's comments, if any

2. Insert the comments in the manuscript Google doc

Google doc version

• ensure the version used is the latest version
  • pickup the version that was submitted to the journal (probably a word document)
  • copy the contents of the latest version submitted and paste it in the original manuscript google document, where the entire article history is.
  • prefer the following option to maintain the formatting and avoiding bad word tags and maintain the history of the document intact
    • upload the word document to a blank page using the "upload" function in google docs
    • copy the contents of the uploaded document and paste them to the original manuscript document

Distribution of the comments

• Insert all the 'general' comments and Editor's comments at the beginning of the manuscript
• Insert all the comments even when they convey the same point.
• Assign different text colour to each of the reviewers' comments for example Reviewer 1=pink text, Reviewer 2=blue text and so on..
• Insert section specific comments just above the section. For example, comments for methods section should be inserted just above the methods section

3. Insert deadline

• Insert the deadline for submission of revised manuscript, at the top of the document in red font

4. Address the comments

• Start addressing the comments one by one
• Address each and every comments of all the reviewers.
• In the beginning, add 'done' response to comments that have been addressed
• A spreadsheet document can be created to compile all the comments and response. Here is the template

5. Prepare the Response letter

• Use template for this purpose (link-http://www.rar.duhs.duke.edu/wiki/index.php/Cover_letter)
• Insert it at the top of the manuscript
• Do this in parallel while addressing the comments

6. Refer journal requirements for the exact format of the revised paper submission

• The requirements of the journal for revised manuscript submission might vary sometime.
• The journal may request a word version with track changes on or may be pdf version with changes highlighted either as bold text or underlined text. In such case, the strategy would vary a little. The author will have to keep/prepare the final word version reflecting all the changes/revisions done.

PS: The "archeology" of scientific texts