I submitted an English paper and got the decision "Reject and encourage resubmission. Here is the decision letter. It is a severe comment, but is there some possibility as a “pilot study”?
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Academic Editor Notes:
Thank your for your submission of this very timely report about a serious public health topic within the context of youth sports, concussion and head injuries. The reviewers have provided substantive feedback regarding the strengths and weaknesses of the current manuscript. The manuscript is not suitable for publication in its current form. However, the authors are encouraged to consider the following steps that may yield the manuscript publishable:
1) The current study is under powered (insufficient sample size) to conduct appropriate comparative measures of association (e.g., Rate Ratios, 95% CI, etc.). Therefore framing this study as a 'pilot study' of the point prevalence of concussion among Japanese high school athletes might be a better alternative
2) the potential for recall bias and selection bias needs to be addressed by the investigators
3) Consideration of potentially increasing the sample size to enhance power as well as the representativeness of your sample, i.e., generalizability, needs to be made
4) A prospective study design be considered going forward with your questions regarding the true incidence of sports-related concussion among Japanese youth - Is there a sports-related injury registry among high school and youth in Japan?
The decision "Reject and encourage resubmission" as well as the decision letter are clearly positive. The letter clearly states that if you can follow the suggestions that the editor has made, the journal would be willing to give your manuscript another chance. As per the editor's suggestions, your manuscript will be stronger if positioned as a pilot study. In addition, you should also try to increase the sample size. In addition, you should address the problems of recall bias and selection bias in your study. Please go through the editor's comments carefully and try to incorporate them as far as possible in your revised manuscript. You can then submit the revised manuscript as a new submission along with a point-by-point response to the editor's comments.
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