Evaluation of the Degree of Synergy in High-Quality Development Among Inter-Provincial Adjacent Districts and Planning Recommendations: The Case Study of Anhui Province and Its Surrounding Provinces

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Dear author/s

Very interesting your work.

I would like also to see a separate section of 'Literature Review' but also this review should not be limited on China studies only.

There is no any other references regarding previous studies analysis to other countries and with similar methodology.

There is no any research questions that someone can define easy.

Starting with the Introducton section, at the biginning and only for 8 lines the authors mentioned some refrence that not related with China!
"In recent decades, the rapid development of global industrialization has led to exponential advancements in science and technology, economics, and society. Urbanization 30 rates have continued to rise, with statistics indicating that in 2018, urban populations accounted for about 60% of the total global population, a figure expected to approach 70% by 2050 [i] . While urbanization has positively impacted human societal development, it  has also led to environmental challenges such as the greenhouse effect, land desertifica- 34 tion, and water pollution. The traditional extensive urbanization model now faces severe problems[ii - iv] . In 1987, amidst this context, the World Commission on Environment and 36 Development (WCED) issued "Our Common Future," systematically and scientifically exploring the notion of sustainable development [v] . In 2015, the United Nations Sustainable 38 Development Summit endorsed "Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development",establishing 17 sustainable development goals. The concept of sustainable development has since become a global consensus and is integrated into various national initiatives to promote societal progress"

There is no any Literature Review about the core meanings of this subject!!
What we mean by 'High- Quality Development'? Why the Synergy between regions is important?  and of course no reference on Preivious studies section!! Omnly, again at the Introduction section, the author/s mention prevous studies but only for China!!! what about other countries/cities in Asia or somewhere else?

The theoretical part is limited in 1,5 half page while the methodological one receives the greater attention of 11 pages!! This is and article!! not a research letter!! And of couse at the suggestion section only he author/s talked again for China!! What about the wider coclusions??

All the best

Author Response

Comments 1:What we mean by 'High- Quality Development'? Why the Synergy between regions is important?  and of course no reference on Preivious studies section!! Omnly, again at the Introduction section, the author/s mention prevous studies but only for China!!! what about other countries/cities in Asia or somewhere else?

Response 1:Thank you for your suggestions, which I fully agree with. In response to your feedback, I have incorporated a discussion on the importance of "high-quality development" and collaborative progress in the introduction and added a review of international literature relevant to the core theme of this paper. These modifications have been made in the revised draft and are highlighted in red.

Comments 1:The theoretical part is limited in 1,5 half page while the methodological one receives the greater attention of 11 pages!! This is and article!! not a research letter!! And of couse at the suggestion section only he author/s talked again for China!! What about the wider coclusions??

Response 1:Thank you for these suggestions. In response to your comments, I have added relevant insights from international research in the conclusion. Regarding your concern about 'The theoretical part is limited to 1.5 pages while the methodological section receives greater attention at 11 pages!!', my response is as follows: As this paper is a quantitative study with a substantial volume of subjects, data collection, and processing, only through extensive text and figures can we clearly explain the research process and provide reliable data support for the results. Therefore, the methods and recommendations sections appear comparatively lengthy.

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

MUST BE IMPROVE BY METHODOLOGY,DISCUSSION AND REFERNCES..

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Comments 1:Comments and Suggestions for Authors MUST BE IMPROVE BY METHODOLOGY,DISCUSSION AND REFERNCES..

Response 1:Thank you for these suggestions. In response to your comments, my reply is as follows: The exclusion of certain regions in the study is due to the lack of data collection by government agencies in those areas. We have made efforts to contact the local governments through emails and phone calls but regrettably were unable to obtain the necessary data, necessitating their exclusion. However, the study encompasses a significant number of subjects, covering 28 cities across seven provinces. The data obtained during the research process aims to provide possible references and general direction for government policy decisions. Therefore, excluding data from three cities will not significantly impact the overall study. As for the choice of research methods, they are based on extensive review of previous scholarly work. These methods have demonstrated a degree of maturity when applied to this study, and the selected indicators cover multiple aspects, ensuring comprehensive representativeness. Wishing you a pleasant life and smooth work.

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

• please find the template of the paper; the format of the author's details is incorrect.
• Your title is "...The Case Study of Anhui Province and Its Surrounding Provinces," but the data include Jiangxi, Hubei, and Hunan. It seems these provinces are not near Anhui Province.
• The first sentence, "as China's economy transitions into a phase of high-quality development," I don’t think is correct.
• The research gap and contributions should be included in the abstract section.
• The citation format is incorrect.
• The introduction does not clearly present your research gap, aims, and contributions.
• How did you select those evaluation indexes?
• Your discussion is unrelated to your research topic.
•  

Comments on the Quality of English Language

no

Author Response

Comments 1:

• please find the template of the paper; the format of the author's details is incorrect.
• The first sentence, "as China's economy transitions into a phase of high-quality development," I don’t think is correct.
• The research gap and contributions should be included in the abstract section.
• The citation format is incorrect.
• The introduction does not clearly present your research gap, aims, and contributions.
• How did you select those evaluation indexes?

Response 1:Thank you for these suggestions. In response to your comments, my reply is as follows: I have revised the format of the article according to the template in the latest submitted version and added explanations regarding the research gap, objectives, and contributions in both the abstract and introduction. The title of this study is 'Taking the Adjacent Areas of Anhui Province and Neighboring Provinces as an Example', which involves research on adjacent areas. Some cities in Jiangxi Province, Hubei Province, and Hunan Province are adjacent to Anhui Province and thus fall within the scope of this study. Wishing you a pleasant life and smooth work.

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Dear Author/s

Your revised version does not present a significant difference from the previous one. You have to separate the section Introduction in two parts, the first in 'Introduction' and the second 'literature review', or to put a new section regarding 'literature review'

At the introduction section you present in red a quite long paragraph with only one ref. Sorry, this is something that it seems to me that you do not search more deeper. You talk about balanced - unbalanced theories and 'strong regions' without any ref.!!!

I fully understand that your aim is to present mainly the empirical part, but sorry, there is theory also behind empirical analysis that in your case does not exists

Author Response

Comments 1:Your revised version does not present a significant difference from the previous one. You have to separate the section Introduction in two parts, the first in 'Introduction' and the second 'literature review', or to put a new section regarding 'literature review'.I fully understand that your aim is to present mainly the empirical part, but sorry, there is theory also behind empirical analysis that in your case does not exists

Response 1:Thank you for your feedback; I truly cherish and highly regard your opinions. Having perused a vast amount of literature and grasped the relevant research outcomes, I have incorporated theories associated with the research topic into the sections marked in red in my latest article, thereby enhancing its theoretical underpinning. I'm eager to engage in further exchanges of ideas with you. May you enjoy a delightful life and experience seamless progress in your work!

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

good improvement

Author Response

Comments 1:good improvement

Response 1:I would like to express my sincere gratitude for your valuable feedback. It has been extremely helpful and has enabled me to make further refinements to the original article. I truly appreciate the opportunity to improve my work with your insights.

I'm very much looking forward to our next exchange of ideas. In the meantime, I sincerely wish you a life filled with joy and work that proceeds without a hitch.

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

 

 

1. Please revise the address format for lines 7-11 according to the specified requirements.

2. Why hasn't a response been provided to the reviewers' comments?

3. There is a repetition issue in lines 42-43 where the same sentence is written twice.

4. Citation formatting errors have been an ongoing issue with this paper. I already pointed this out during the first review, but the new version still hasn't addressed it.

5. The inclusion of various GDP indicators in the analysis might lead to multicollinearity issues in the regression equation. Have you considered this problem?

6. The English expression requires further improvement.

 

Comments on the Quality of English Language

The quality of English needs to develop

Author Response

Comments 1: Please revise the address format for lines 7-11 according to the specified requirements. There is a repetition issue in lines 42-43 where the same sentence is written twice. Citation formatting errors have been an ongoing issue with this paper. I already pointed this out during the first review, but the new version still hasn't addressed it.

Response 1: Thank you very much for your feedback. I wholeheartedly agree with and cherish your opinions. I have rewritten the format of the author information in the article according to the template format requirements of the journal, deleted and revised the duplicate sentences, and corrected the citation format in the text.

Comments 2: The inclusion of various GDP indicators in the analysis might lead to multicollinearity issues in the regression equation. Have you considered this problem?

Response 2: Thank you for your feedback. My response is as follows. Firstly, the selection of the indicators in the article strictly adheres to the commonly recognized principles of scientificity, feasibility and comprehensiveness. Meanwhile, a large number of previous research achievements and types of indicator selection have been referred to. Currently, the four subsystems of "economic development, scientific and technological innovation, social services, and ecological construction", along with 10 first-level indicators and 20 second-level indicators constructed in the article, are relatively mature and possess good representativeness. Moreover, the correlation and repetitiveness among the five indicators reflecting economic development, namely per capita GDP, the proportion of the tertiary industry in GDP, the growth rate of GDP, the total volume of imports and exports, and labor productivity, are not too strong. Secondly, the research area of this article covers 28 cities in 7 provinces. The scope of indicator collection is the data of each city within five years. Thanks to a sufficient number of research samples and a large amount of indicator data, the possible multicollinearity issues can be alleviated to a certain extent.

Comments 3: The English expression requires further improvement.

Response 3: Based on your suggestions, I have once again refined the English language quality of the article. Affected by the constraints of budgetary expenses, there may still be some language issues in the article. However, I have tried every possible means within my capacity to make the improved English more academic and professional.

Round 3

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

accept