Q: How should I respond to a comment where the reviewer has failed to notice some information?
I received the result of peer review. The comment says “the information of research sample (specifically, the stage of the patients who participated the clinical research) is not mentioned”, but it is mentioned on the table. It is difficult to refer to the same content both on the text and the table because of the character limits. How should I respond to such a comment as this seems that the reviewer failed to notice the information in the table?
It is alright to disagree with a reviewer's comment if you feel that your idea is justified. You can politely explain your perspective to the reviewer. As in your case, you can explain that you have mentioned the flagged information in the corresponding table and also mention the table number in question. You can explain how adding the same information in the body text would exceed the word count limit of the article. However, if the reviewer insists that the information be added in the text then you can say that you’re ready to do so but the word count will slightly exceed the limit.
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This content belongs to the Journal submission & peer review Stage