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MDPIMDPI
by
  • Refka Ben Hamouda1,2,3,
  • Bertrand Estellon4 and
  • Lionel Almeras1,2,3,*
  • et al.

Reviewer 1: Anonymous Reviewer 2: Anonymous

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The presented manuscript titled "MSProfileR: an open-source software for quality control of MALDI-TOF spectra" (informatics-2892477) addresses an exciting area of application of the MALDI method in the analysis of biological samples, which is the control of identification results by checking the quality of mass spectra. As rightly noted by the authors, currently, MS quality control is subjective and, therefore, depends on the experience and skill of the experimenter. The idea of the open-source tool for MS quality control that will be objective and facilitate the whole process is reasonable and presents novelty in the field.

I am sure the user-friendly tool will be handy for MALDI users and will improve many future studies that rely on the MALDI identification modules.

Since the manuscript is well-written and easy to follow, I recommend accepting the paper in the current version.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This paper describes a software built in the R language and used for quality control of MALDI spectra profiles to improve identification in standard microbial databases by detecting and removing profile outliers.

The software is solidly designed and all relevant steps and functionalities are included. The application to entomology is interesting and relevant, although I would say that the particular need in that field for such a software is insufficiently justified and the authors could motivate it better. 

The paper spends too much time describing the software in detail, which is something that doesn't directly apply to the scientific need to be solved. A larger focus on the experiments realised and less description of every screen and functionality of the software would very much improve its relevance. 

 

Comments on the Quality of English Language

The English is good but some revision is necessary. For instance, in the abstract: "hampering it widely use" should maybe be"hampering its wider use". There are a few of these typos or weird grammar throughout the text.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx