Published on in Vol 2, No 1 (2021): Jan-Mar

Preprints (earlier versions) of this paper are available at https://preprints.jmir.org/preprint/27260, first published .
Peer Review of “A Framework for a Statistical Characterization of Epidemic Cycles: COVID-19 Case Study”

Peer Review of “A Framework for a Statistical Characterization of Epidemic Cycles: COVID-19 Case Study”

Peer Review of “A Framework for a Statistical Characterization of Epidemic Cycles: COVID-19 Case Study”

Authors of this article:

Mo Salman1 Author Orcid Image

Peer-Review Report


This is a peer review submitted for the paper “A Framework for a Statistical Characterization of Epidemic Cycles: COVID-19 Case Study.”


General Comments

It seems that the aim of this submission [1] is to report a study conducted to show an approach for normalization epidemic curves from various countries using retrospective data, particularly from the city of Rio de Janeiro. The submission lacks a recognized structure to present a study with its aim and details of data sources. Furthermore, the submission includes some terms that are not appropriate for describing infectious disease in a population such as contamination and contamination cycle instead of exposure and infection rates.

Specific Comments

  1. The aim of the study should be stated in a precise statement with supportive ways to test the underlying hypothesis;
  2. Details of the analytical approach should be given with its assumptions and limitations;
  3. Sources of the data with overall reliability can be detailed;
  4. Use the appropriate and conventional terms of infectious diseases by checking the contents of the submission with reliable epidemiologists.

I am satisfied with the modifications to the new version. Almost all of my concerns were addressed in the new version. I will let the readers decide about the validity of the model since the authors elaborated on the approach.

Conflicts of Interest

None declared.

  1. De Carvalho EA, De Carvalho RA. A Framework for a Statistical Characterization of Epidemic Cycles: COVID-19 Case Study. JMIRx Med 2021 Mar 18;2(1):e22617 [FREE Full text] [CrossRef]

Edited by E Meinert; This is a non–peer-reviewed article. submitted 18.01.21; accepted 27.01.21; published 18.03.21

Copyright

©Mo Salman. Originally published in JMIRx Med (https://med.jmirx.org), 18.03.2021.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in the JMIRx Med, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://med.jmirx.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.