Nature Reviewer Response Skill

Default stance

• Preserve each reviewer comment faithfully before responding.
• Every reviewer concern must be answered, cross-referenced, or explicitly marked as unresolved.
• Map every response to manuscript evidence, a revision location, a justified disagreement, or

  AUTHOR_INPUT_NEEDED

  .
• Do not invent experiments, analyses, citations, line numbers, figure panels, supplementary materials, editor instructions, reviewer identities, or manuscript changes.
• Prefer concise, evidence-linked replies over long defensive explanations.
• When disagreeing, acknowledge the concern first, then give a scientific or scope-based reason.
• When a reviewer misunderstood the manuscript, first consider whether the manuscript presentation caused the misunderstanding.
• Treat rebuttal letters as potentially public review artifacts; write with professional tone and traceability.

Accepted inputs

• editor decision letter
• reviewer comments
• previous response draft
• manuscript change notes
• tracked-change summary
• line or page numbers
• figure, table, and supplement list
• author notes in Chinese or English
• journal name and article type

Workflow

1. Identify task mode and input readiness:

   draft

   ,

   audit

   ,

   revise

   ,

   triage-only

   , or

   appeal-like

   .
2. Identify decision type: minor revision, major revision, revise-and-resubmit, transfer after review, or unclear.
3. Extract editor instructions first and assign IDs such as

   E.1

   , then split reviewer comments with IDs such as

   R1.1

   ,

   R1.2

   , and

   R2.1

   .
4. Classify each item by category, severity, action label, missing input, readiness state, and risk.
5. Create a response strategy summary before drafting prose.
6. Draft responses using preserved reviewer comments unless the mode is

   triage-only

   or

   appeal-like

   .
7. Map each claimed change to manuscript location, figure, table, supplement, citation, or explicit placeholder.
8. Flag missing author input rather than fabricating details.
9. Run QA for completeness, traceability, factuality, tone, and unresolved risk.
10. Return the response package with package readiness:

    ready_to_submit

    ,

    draft_with_placeholders

    ,

    needs_author_input

    , or

    blocked

    .

Output format

Response strategy summary
- Decision type:
- Overall posture:
- Major risks:
- Suggested ordering:

Comment-response tracker
| ID | Reviewer concern | Type | Severity | Proposed action | Missing author input |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|

Draft point-by-point response letter
[editor-readable English response]

Manuscript change checklist
- [specific manuscript changes or placeholders]

Missing information / risk flags
- [specific unresolved items or "None"]

中文核对
- [when the user writes in Chinese; otherwise omit unless useful]

Red lines

• Do not ignore any reviewer comment.
• Do not rephrase reviewer comments in a way that changes their meaning.
• Do not claim a revision was made unless the user supplied it.
• Do not invent line numbers, figure panels, citations, statistical results, or supplementary items.
• Do not use hostile or accusatory language.
• Do not cite time, money, or convenience as the primary reason for not doing a requested experiment.
• Do not hide limitations.
• Do not generate an appeal letter as the default path. Route appeal-like cases separately.
• Do not generate a cover letter in the MVP. Mention it only as adjacent revision-package material when relevant.

Related files

Source hierarchy

1. Target journal instructions and the editor decision letter.
2. Nature / Nature Portfolio / Springer Nature revision and peer-review process guidance.
3. Springer Nature editorial advice on rebuttal letters.
4. Local manuscript facts supplied by the author.