Rebuttal Strategy (jms-rebuttal)

When to trigger

• A JMS R&R (major or minor) has arrived and you are drafting the response letter
• Reviewers disagree and you must decide whom to follow without alienating the other
• A reviewer demands a change that would weaken the paper and you need to push back gracefully
• The contribution must be re-sharpened in response to "the theoretical contribution is unclear"
• You are entering round 2+ and need to show the editor decisive progress

The JMS rebuttal bar

JMS review is developmental and multi-round, so the response letter is itself a piece of scholarship: it must be respectful, point-by-point, and complete, and it must convince the handling editor (not just placate reviewers) that the contribution is now clear and the rigor demands are met. The most consequential thread is almost always the theoretical contribution — center your response there, then handle method/analysis/framing/writing.

Structure the response letter