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Below are examples and templates for confidential recommendation letters from Assistant to Associate editors.
Template for confidential recommendation to associate editor
Template for confidential recommendation to associate editor
Rationale for recommendation
Explain briefly the reason for your recommendation.
If recommending rejection, explain why this manuscript cannot be revised.
Strengths of the manuscript
Growth areas of the manuscripts
Reviewer comments that must be explicitly addressed in the decision letter
go/no-go: Mention all comments that must be addressed in order for the manuscript to avoid being rejected
conflicting recommendations: Mention all instances where peer reviewer comments contradict each other, go against journal policy, are unjustified, counterproductive, or unclear
unprofessional comments: Mention all instances of unprofessional comments (such as, ad hominem attacks of the author; unfounded requests to cite the reviewer's publications)
Content
Briefly summarize the study (topic, research question, main findings, main conclusion or implication)
Form
Comment on the clarity of the writing and its suitability for ICB readers
Comment on the clarity and suitability of the figures
Example 1
Example 1
Rationale
Highly original study showing how muscle contractions drive intracellular flows that might provide convective transport of molecules (energy delivery, control molecules) within the cell.
Strengths
relevance: study has implications for biomechanics, muscle physiology, and cell biology community, it is highly relevant to researchers studying muscle physiology and intracellular transport mechanisms.
scientific importance: study show how muscle circumvent diffusion limits; shows that muscle cells change volume during contractions.
Growth areas
none identified
Content
This study uses X ray crystallography to show how muscle cells change their shape during contraction, then uses mathematical modeling to predict the resulting intracellular flows and resulting concentration gradients of ATP within the muscle cell; these results are compared with model predictions assuming iso-volumetric contractions.
Form
The manuscript is well written, the figures are clear and easy to understand.
Example 2
Example 2
Rationale
The main finding of the study is attractive to a broad audience (news and social media) as well as relevant to scientists studying limbed locomotion and functional morphology of vertebrates.
Strengths
appears to be a novel insight into the functional morphology or quadrupeds, proposing a functional explanation for why vertebrates have an elbow-back knee-forward arrangement of their leg joints based on minimizing mechanical work
relevant to the broader biomechanics-of-limbed-locomotion community, including biologists and bio-engineers
main finding attractive to news and social media (after being translated into language suitable for a general audience)
Growth areas
the writing is dense and less suitable for a broad readership
findings are not placed in a broader context to demonstrate relevance to a broad readership beyond the discipline of the study
Content
The study develops a functional explanation for the elbow-back knee-forward arrangement of leg joints in quadrupeds; the study develops predictions from mathematical models to compare the costs of two joint arrangements and compares the predictions with experimental observations (force measurements) from the literature; the main conclusion of the study is that the elbow-back knee-forward joint arrangement reduces the mechanical work required for limbed locomotion more than an elbow-back knee-forward arrangement.
Form
The manuscript is well written but the writing is dense and full of jargon that is not explained well enough for a general reader; the figures are clear and attractive.
Example 3
Example 3
Rationale
study gathered a large and difficult-to-obtain data set on (sampling across multiple years, 60 species, remote locations) to test whether complex habitats lead to increased biodiversity looking at form-function relationships in butterflies and how metabolic demands shape flight morphology.
Strengths
integrative: uses functional morphology and energetics to address ecological and evolutionary questions.
broadly relevant: findings are relevant to broad readership due to integrative nature of the study; exemplifies the value of a suitable model system to study the drivers of biodiversity and the benefits of field-based research in biomechanics
Growth areas
findings confirm existing understanding about the link between habitat complexity and biodiversity.
study uses only male butterflies, and therefore does not account for effects of sexual selection
Content
This study test its central hypothesis that habitat complexity drives biodiversity by examining hypotheses about the flight morphology of butterflies and constraints imposed by different microhabitats within the tropical rainforest. The study finds that habitat stratification and the resulting differences in e.g. metabolic costs and flight demands can explain flight morphology in butterflies.
Form
The manuscript is well written, the figures are not particularly attractive or easy to understand.
Example 4
Example 4
Rationale
The study is purely correlative and its conclusions are not supported by evidence due to too many underlying assumptions and methodological limitations: ignores phylogeny, no behavioral data.
Strengths
the study compares multiple species of [taxon].
Growth areas
the study is relevant to the narrow audience and the findings are not significantly changing or expanding our current understanding.
Content
This study explores the form-function relationships in [organism group], exploring how tunic morphology correlates with locomotory functions and habitat. The main finding of the study is that the collagen type in the tunic differs significantly between [organism group] from different habitats.
Form
The manuscript is sufficiently well written, the figures are clear and quite easy to understand, but nor particularly engaging.
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