2.6.4. Respond effectively to reviewers’ criticisms
Finally, in spite of one’s best efforts in anticipating
and explicitly addressing common criticisms, some
reviewers will likely level such criticisms anyway.
So, what can one do? The only response is to rationally
address each criticism during the article’s resubmission,
keeping both the editor’s comments and the
journal’s audience in mind. It is reasonable to assume
that the editor is sympathetic to case-based methods—
otherwise the paper would not have been initially sent
for review. However, the editor will also be legitimately
concerned about publishing a paper that will
be unconvincing to a potentially skeptical audience.
The paper and any resubmission must be written to be
as convincing as possible that the approach taken was
valid and rigorous.