A poorly written reviewer response can get a sound paper rejected. This guide covers the structure, tone, and exact phrases you need — especially if English is not your first language.
When a paper receives major or minor revisions, the editor reads the response letter first — before looking at the revised manuscript. The letter signals your scientific maturity, your willingness to engage with criticism, and your command of the academic register.
For ESL researchers, this is often the hardest document to write. The content is complex (defending scientific choices), the tone must be simultaneously respectful and confident, and the language needs to be precise. A defensive or poorly structured response — even for an excellent revision — can lead to rejection.
Thank the editor and reviewers. Summarize the major changes in 2–3 sentences. Do not list everything here — keep it high-level.
Quote each reviewer comment in full, then respond directly below. Use a consistent visual format throughout the entire letter.
Include the revised passage with page and line numbers. Reviewers should not have to hunt for your changes in the manuscript.
A brief, confident close. 2–3 sentences. Do not over-apologize, over-promise, or thank the reviewers a second time here.
We thank the Editor and the reviewers for their careful reading of our manuscript and their constructive feedback. We have revised the manuscript thoroughly in response to all comments raised. The major changes include [2–3 sentence summary of key revisions]. We believe the manuscript has been substantially strengthened as a result. Our point-by-point responses are provided below.
Reviewer 2, Comment 3:
"The authors should provide more detail on the statistical analysis, particularly regarding the correction for multiple comparisons."
Response:
We thank the reviewer for this important observation. We have added a detailed explanation of our multiple comparisons correction to the Methods section (p. 8, lines 214–221). Specifically, we applied the Benjamini-Hochberg false discovery rate correction with a threshold of q < 0.05. The revised passage reads as follows:
[New text pasted here, indented]
The tone must walk a narrow line. Too deferential sounds insecure; too assertive sounds defensive. The goal is collegial confidence — the register of a scientist who respects the reviewer but is secure in their methodology.
"The reviewer is completely right and we were wrong. We have fixed this terrible mistake."
"We thank the reviewer for this observation. We agree that the original presentation was unclear and have revised accordingly."
"We added what the reviewer wants, but we think the original version was also fine."
"We appreciate this suggestion and have expanded the discussion (p. 12, lines 334–341), while retaining our original conclusion, which we believe is supported by the evidence presented."
"We disagree with the reviewer. Our method is correct."
"We respectfully maintain our original approach. As clarified in the revised manuscript (p. 9, lines 247–253), [specific reason] means that the alternative would not be appropriate here. We have added a note to acknowledge this point explicitly."
Key principle: Never say "we cannot do this." Say "we have addressed this by…" or "we have clarified in the manuscript that…". Every comment gets a response that includes an action — even if the action is only adding a sentence of explanation rather than changing the analysis.
Every single reviewer comment needs a response. If you chose not to make a change, explain why explicitly in your letter.
"We have revised this section as suggested" is not enough. Quote the new text and give page and line numbers.
Even a harsh or unfair reviewer comment deserves a calm, professional response. Editors read the tone — and they notice when an author sounds frustrated.
Paste your reviewer comments and your draft responses. Writademic checks the tone, fixes the language, and makes sure every reply is clear, confident, and in your own voice.
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