Q: Is the below rational of the study correct to be sent to an Editor ?
There is only one study published related to my study as found after the literature search. I found that it is same as that of my study in every aspect (like objective and method), so, can I write the rational of the study: As there is only one study published related to my study or less data, so, I conducted this study.
Dear author,
Thank you for your question. The rationale of the study is clear, however, it would be better to highlight it further in your communication with the journal. You can mention
1. That there is only one other study published on this topic,
2. There have been no follow-ups to that previously published study,
3. Why it is important to do this study (clinical/industrial significance, need for more information on this topic, etc.)
4. How your study confirms/contradicts the work done in the previous study.
5. How does your study add to what was previously published in the other study?
It might not be enough to simply say that there's very less work done on this topic, it is important to justify why more work is required. Why is the topic important? Also, if the older study is very similar to yours, then it's important that you can differentiate your study in some way- have you performed othe experiments? Has your study added more information? All of these points will help convince the editor of the rationale of your study.
I hope this helps frame a comprehensive response to the editor.
This content belongs to the Conducting Research Stage