Efficiency in Chinese Large Yellow Croaker Aquaculture: Implication for Sustainable Aquaculture in China

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

According to authors, small farmers (as crucial players in the industry) have no potential for adoption of new technologies. So, what is the solution to the problem? Is it involvement of big national or international companies which are capable of introducing innovations and new technologies?

Author Response

Thanks for your comment. Yes, your understanding is right. We have included your comment in the revision. 

Reviewer 2 Report

The first thing to point out is that the title of this article does not attract readers’ interest. I found that the author has studied many indicators in this research, but not all indicators must appear in the title.

The abstract section should briefly introduce the research background and research significance and clarify the research methods, then introduce the main research results, and finally, give the corresponding conclusions. The abstract of this article looks ok, but some descriptions are redundant, and I hope to make a comprehensive modification.

Make sure that symbols, sub- and super-scripts, upper- and lower-case are presented correctly, and that there is correct and consistent use of italics, brackets and punctuation etc.

There are mistakes in the citations, reference list, including incorrect reporting, inconsistent presentation, spelling mistakes and problems with use of punctuation etc. Check the journal guidelines. 

Author Response

Thanks for the valuable comments. We have changed the title, improved the abstract, corrected the notation for some of the variables, and added a reference list using endnotes by following the journal's guidelines. We have done careful editing. Hopefully, the manuscript has been significantly improved. 

Reviewer 3 Report

I am pleased to have the opportunity to review this research paper. This study attempted to explore efficiency in Chinese Large Yellow Croaker Aquaculture: Is the family-based farm model an impediment for sustainable development?. The subject is appropriate and interesting but there are many concerns in the article. The following inputs might help the author/s to improve the paper. Authors should modify the article following the comments indicated below to increase the quality of research justification, contributions, originality and findings.

First of all, paper research gap. Please improve this part in the introduction section. The introduction is very general in some sections and lacked alignment to the research findings, no discussion was provided to derive the implication from. Also, the introduction appears to be very long. Furthermore, there is insufficient support and weak arguments in support of the objective that is proposed as well as the model developed. In the final part of the introduction, the objectives proposed originality, and gaps that would be better covered. Also a summary explaining how the author will perform the methodology.

What is the originality of this research? Improve this paragraph, the paper research gap and originality should be better presented at the end of the introduction section and justified. Please use this paper and make a citation to solve this task if needed: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2021.08.006. Also, make notes about the manuscript structure.

Discussion should be improved and be separated from results. Discussion needs to be a coherent and cohesive set of arguments that take us beyond this study in particular, and help us see the relevance of what the authors have proposed.  Author need to contextualize the findings in the literature, and need to be explicit about the added value of your study towards that literature. Also, other studies should be cited to increase the theoretical background of each of the methods used. Findings should be contextualized in the literature and should be explicit about the added value of the study towards the literature. Please use this citation to copy the style and cite it if necessary: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.03.001

Questions to be answered:

What practical/professional and academic consequences will this study have for the future of scientific literature (theoretical contributions)?

Why is this study necessary? Again, the authors should make clear arguments to explain what is the originality and value of the proposed model. This should be stated in the final paragraphs of the introduction and conclusion sections.

Please make sure your 'conclusion' section underscore the scientific value added of your paper, and/or the applicability of your findings/results, as indicated previously. Please revise your conclusion part into more details. Basically, you should enhance your contributions, limitations, underscore the scientific value added of your paper, and/or the applicability of your findings/results and future study in this section

Also, there is still a gap on the added value of your work in the context of proper and current research (up to 2021) references should be improved.

I would also urge the authors to read the articles listed below before completing the manuscript revision. The author will understand that the article background and structure can be improved as well as the method development. Also, there is still a gap on the added value of your work in the context of proper and current research (up to 2021). Please consider adding new references.

Dantas, T. E. T., De-Souza, E. D., Destro, I. R., Hammes, G., Rodriguez, C. M. T., & Soares, S. R. (2021). How the combination of Circular Economy and Industry 4.0 can contribute towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 26, 213-227.

Khosla, R., Miranda, N. D., Trotter, P. A., Mazzone, A., Renaldi, R., McElroy, C., ... & McCulloch, M. (2021). Cooling for sustainable development. Nature Sustainability, 4(3), 201-208.

Yoshino, N., Taghizadeh-Hesary, F., & Otsuka, M. (2021). Covid-19 and optimal portfolio selection for investment in sustainable development goals. Finance research letters, 38, 101695.

Saura, J.R., Palacios-Marqués, D. & Ribeiro-Soriano, D (2021). How SMEs use data sciences in their online marketing performance: A systematic literature review of the state-of-the-art, Journal of Small Business Management. https://doi.org/10.1080/00472778.2021.1955127

Good luck with your revision

Author Response

Thanks for the valuable comments. We have now improved the introduction section and discussion section by closely following your guidelines. Thanks for sending us the references, which we have used to improve the structure and discussion. 

We have provided two versions of the manuscript, one with track change and one without. Although we have carefully edited the whole manuscript, the main revisions are in the abstract, introduction, and discussion section by enclosing your valuable suggestions. 

 

Round 2

Reviewer 3 Report

The authors have completed successfully the indicated changes. This reviewer has no additional comments.