Editors’ opinions of severity of criticism. Values are numbers (percentages)
| Severity of criticism* | Papers with authors’ replies (n=47)† | Papers without authors’ replies (n=58)† | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Editor 1 | Editor 2 | Editor 1 | Editor 2 | ||
| Minor | 7 (15) | 13 (28) | 7 (12) | 16 (28) | |
| Moderate | 26 (55) | 10 (21) | 31 (53) | 12 (21) | |
| Major | 14 (30) | 24 (51) | 20 (34) | 30 (52) | |
F test for equality of variances for editors’ assessments: P=0.002.
*Scale from 1 (minor criticism) to 3 (major criticism).
†Mean score 2.2 for group with authors’ replies and 2.2 for group without authors’ replies (P=0.72).