We read with great interest the correspondence between Dr. Paul and the Editorial Board regarding the dilemma that arises both for the readers and for the journal when there is no response from authors to pertinent queries made on their article(1,2). We agree with the Editorial Board that failure of authors to respond to a query cannot be a valid reason for the journal to withdraw an article which has already been considered worthy of publication after peer-review. Also, the Editorial Board has taken the right decision to print the queries even though there was no response from the authors.

Most often authors do respond to queries that are raised against their article, as this gives them an opportunity to clarify an issue and defend their work. At times, their reply also gives them an opportunity to inform the readers details of their work which had not been published earlier due to limitations of text length. However, sometimes authors just do not respond, the reasons could be related to: (i) logistical problems (for example, loss of original data or lack of communication amongst various investigators), (ii) lack of interest or paucity of time for drafting a reply, (iii) lack of incentive (authors’ reply are not considered as a separate publication and are therefore not listed separately on PubMed), or (iv) genuine inability to respond to a very pertinent query and to therefore defend their work. It is the last reason that is a cause for worry. As readers, we would be concerned if a journal encounters several such instances of non-response. Does it mean that non-defensible articles are getting through the peer-review process? Such instances might create doubts in the minds of the readers about the quality of articles published in the journal in general and this could tarnish the exalted image of the journal.

We think that more needs to be done to avoid such situations in the future. To discourage authors from not responding to a pertinent query the authors should be informed that the query has been considered as pertinent and that it would be published, even if they choose not to respond. To decide whether the query is pertinent the journal can have an expert committee or seek the help of the reviewers of the article. Also, the journal website should be constructed in such a manner that the query once published is linked to the article and the fact regarding authors' non-response should be mentioned at the end of the article itself. This would alert the readers who read the article from the website and they would be then able to draw their own conclusions about the quality of the article. The editors should also consider if it is possible to publish authors’ reply requiring detailed response under a new title so that it could be listed on PubMed as a separate publication.

Sandeep B. Bavdekar,
Sunil Karande,
Seth Gordhandas Sunderdas Medical
College and KEM Hospital,
Parel Mumbai and
Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College and
General Hospital, Sion, Mumbai, India.
E-mail: [email protected]  

1. Paul Y. What should be done when authors do not respond. Indian Pediatr 2006; 43:85-86.

2. Editorial Board. Reply. Indian Pediatr 2006; 43: 86.