The Intertwined Threads of Blue Economy, Inclusive Growth, and Environmental Sustainability in Transition Economies

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The present manuscript contains 12% similarity. 

Abstract

- add the importance and future aspect of this study in one or two lines

-add the method and countries selected 

-There is no sequence and not a clear summary of whole manuscript, I suggest to re-write the abstract 

Introduction

- merge the introduction and review of literature 

-use the content only which is more relevant to your study 

-I recommend you to use latest literature and remove old with new one 

Methodology

- Write the countries names and how you include that data in your research, write briefly 

-add the references of the methods, equations you have used 

- If you updated any equation or modified, then write beside each one 

Results

-The graphs are not clear

-Use appropriate and latest graphics tool to make graphs 

-use captions carefully beside each image 

-use x-axis and y-axis labeling 

Discussion

-I recommend to write discussion more focusing on your own results and defend them in accordance to previous findings 

- Use relevant references to defend your research 

Conclusion 

- This is not the main conclusion

- I recommend to write the this section again, not include results 

- no need to add Appendix, shift this into methodology section 

 

 

Author Response

Comment: 

Abstract

Add the importance and future aspect of this study in one or two lines. Add the method and countries selected. There is no sequence and not a clear summary of whole manuscript, I suggest to re-write the abstract

Reply:

Dear Reviewer, thank you for your valuable feedback on the abstract. As per your suggestions, we have revised the abstract.

Comment: 

Introduction

Merge the introduction and review of literature. Use the content only which is more relevant to your study. I recommend you use latest literature and remove old with new one.

Reply:

Dear Reviewer, thank you for your valuable feedback. We have merged the introduction and literature review sections, focusing solely on the most relevant content for my study. Additionally, we have replaced older references with more recent literature to ensure the study reflects the latest developments in the field

Comment

:Methodology Write the countries names and how you include that data in your research, write briefly.

Reply:

Dear Reviewer, thank you for your valuable feedback. On your suggestion, the countries names are written in the methodology section. Out of 24 transition economies, 17 countries (Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Iran, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Pakistan, Singapore, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates) were chosen based on data availability. The data of these countries were taken from different sources mentioned in table 2 and the analysis was done by STATA software. 

Comment:

Add the references of the methods, equations you have used

Reply:

Dear Reviewer, thank you for your valuable feedback. References of the methods are added. The references of the link between equations used are also added.

Comment:

If you updated any equation or modified, then write beside each one

Reply:

Dear Reviewer, thank you for your valuable feedback. It has been done.

Comment:

Results

The graphs are not clear. Use appropriate and latest graphics tool to make graphs. Use captions carefully beside each image. Use x-axis and y-axis labeling 

Reply:

Dear Reviewer, thank you for your valuable feedback. It has been done.

Comment:

Discussion

I recommend to write discussion more focusing on your own results and defend them in accordance to previous findings. Use relevant references to defend your research.

Reply:

Dear Reviewer, thank you for your valuable feedback. The discussion part is now improved with focusing on relevant results and defended through previous studies/findings with relevant references.

Comment:

Conclusion

This is not the main conclusion. I recommend to write the this section again, not include results.

Reply:

Dear Reviewer, thank you for your valuable suggestion. The main conclusion is written again including only main results.

Comment:

No need to add Appendix, shift this into methodology section.

Reply:

Dear Reviewer, thank you for your valuable feedback. Appendix is deleted and shifted into methodology section

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The manuscript: "The intertwined threads of blue economy, inclusive growth, and environmental sustainability in transition economies" needs improvement such as indicated below:

- Introduction - Please, clear state what is the aim of the study, what is new in this study.

-Chapter 2: in chapter 2 Authors should mentione about technology connected with waste utilisation, which is very important in blue economy. Please cite references regarding circular economy (e.g., From chitin to chitosan – a potential natural anti… — Biblioteka Nauki)

- Subchapter 5.4.1. Please, add explanation of the pattern. What does it mean i, N, t, T, etc.

- Results. Figures 1-8 haven't description: what is presented in these figures. Lack of descriptions of axis and clear presentation of units. Please also clarify legends (colours should be more diverse, not only green and blue). Figures are not understandable.

-Letters in the whole manuscript should be of the same size. Please, correct it.

- English language in the manuscript should be more clear.

 

Author Response

comments1: 

The manuscript: "The intertwined threads of blue economy, inclusive growth, and environmental sustainability in transition economies" needs improvement such as indicated below:

Introduction - Please, clear state what is the aim of the study, what is new in this study.

Response1:

Dear Reviewer, thank you for your valuable feedback. In response to your comment, we have now clearly stated the aim of the study and emphasized the novelty and significance.

Comment 2:

Chapter 2: in chapter 2 Authors should mention technology connected with waste utilisation, which is very important in blue economy. Please cite references regarding circular economy (e.g., From chitin to chitosan – a potential natural anti… — Biblioteka Nauki)

Response 2:

Dear Reviewer, thank you for your valuable suggestion. We agree that waste utilization technologies play a crucial role in the blue economy, particularly in promoting sustainability through circular economy principles. As suggested, we have incorporated a discussion on the role of technologies connected with waste utilization, such as the conversion of chitin to chitosan, a process that exemplifies the potential for turning marine waste into valuable products.

Comment 3: 

Subchapter 5.4.1. Please, add explanation of the pattern. What does it mean i, N, t, T, etc.

Response 3: 

Dear Reviewer, thank you for your valuable feedback. i represents cross-section (country), N shows the number of countries from 1-17, t depicts time, and T describes the number of years from 2000-2022.

Comment 4: 

Results. Figures 1-8 haven't description: what is presented in these figures. Lack of descriptions of axis and clear presentation of units. Please also clarify legends (colours should be more diverse, not only green and blue). Figures are not understandable.

Response4:

Dear Reviewer, thank you for your valuable feedback. It has been done.

Comment5:

Letters in the whole manuscript should be of the same size. Please, correct it.

Response 5: 

Dear Reviewer, letters in the whole manuscript are now the same size. It is corrected.

Comment 6: 

English language in the manuscript should be more clear.

Response 6: 

Dear Reviewer, it has been done.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The authors explore the interconnected relationships among the blue economy, inclusive growth, and environmental sustainability in 17 transition economies from 2000 to 2022. They reveal that while inclusive growth can initially increase the ecological footprint, it ultimately promotes environmental improvement through long-term strategies and policies. The blue economy plays a critical role in mitigating ecological impacts, and green technological innovation further reduces environmental degradation. However, activities like agriculture, forestry, and fishing, along with natural resource depletion, significantly contribute to ecological footprints. The study recommends fostering renewable energy, adopting clean technologies, and promoting inclusive policies for sustainable development.

The manuscript can be considered for published after the authors completely address the following self-evident points:

 

- Please study the difference between hyphen, en dash, and em dash. Then please use them correctly.

- Punctuate each displayed equation so that a sentence has an end.

- Whether italics and bolded are unique to math symbols.

- Most math symbols should be italicized, but text should not be italicized. Operators should also not be italicized.

- In academic papers, three-line tables should be used whenever possible.

- Each figure should have a caption with a summary of the main information.

- Section 7 should be better organized.

- Appendix should be self-contained.

Author Response

Comment1: 

The manuscript can be considered for published after the authors completely address the following self-evident points:

Please study the difference between hyphen, en dash, and em dash. Then please use them correctly.

Response1:

Dear Reviewer, we have reviewed the manuscript for proper use of en dashes, em dashes, and hyphens. There are no em dashes in the revised manuscript. Two en dashes remain in the reference list as they appear in the original cited article titles. All other hyphens are consistent with MDPI style and standard usage.

Comment 2:

Punctuate each displayed equation so that a sentence has an end.

Response 2:

Dear Reviewer, thank you for your valuable feedback. Each equation is punctuated, and sentence has an end with “.”

Comment 3:

Whether italics and bolded are unique to math symbols.

Response 3: 

Dear Reviewer, only math symbols are Italic, text is in non-italic whereas headings and subheadings are bolded.

Comment 4:

In academic papers, three-line tables should be used whenever possible.

Response 4: 

Dear Reviewer, on your valuable suggestion three-line tables have been made.

Comment 5: 

Dear Reviewer, on your valuable suggestion three-line tables have been made.

Response 5:

Dear Reviewer, thank you for your valuable feedback. It has been done.

Comment 6: 

Section 7 should be better organized.

Response 6:

Dear Reviewer, thank you for your valuable feedback. Section 7 is organized in a better way and now it is Section 6.

Comment 7:

Appendix should be self-contained.

Response 7: 

Dear Reviewer, thank you for your valuable feedback. As suggested by the respected reviewer 1, appendix is deleted, and the names of the countries are added in the methodology section.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The authors have clearly described the answers of all the comments. Now the paper can be published in present form. 

Author Response

Comment1

The authors have clearly described the answers of all the comments. Now the paper can be published in present form. 

 

Response 1:

Dear Reviewer, Thanks for Appreciation

 

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The authors did not completely address the self-evident points, and therefore the manuscript cannot be considered for publication.

 

- For example, “Driscoll–Kraay” “[13–16]” should be en dash, not hyphen.

- You did not punctuate displayed equations.

- You did not unify whether or not to italicize the same symbol (i, t, etc.).

- “Most math symbols should be italicized, but text should not be italicized. Operators should also not be italicized.” This independent point was not mentioned in your point-to-point reply.

- The figure captions are too short, and there are a lot of errors and inconsistencies, such as “Figure 1:…” “Figur2” “Figure 4: …”.

Author Response

Comment1: 

“Driscoll–Kraay” “[13–16]” should be en dash, not hyphen.

Response 1: Dear Reviewer, thank you for your valuable feedback we have updated all incidences Driscoll–Karaay with en dash. 

Comment 2:

You did not punctuate displayed equations.

Response2: 

Dear Reviewer, thank you for your valuable feedback. All the three equations are now properly punctuated. In equation 2, there was a large difference between + and math symbols now it is corrected and displayed in red color.

Comment 3:

You did not unify whether or not to italicize the same symbol (i, t, etc.).

Response 3:

Dear Reviewer, thank you for your valuable feedback, we have unified all symbols. 

Comment 4: 

“Most math symbols should be italicized, but text should not be italicized. Operators should also not be italicized.” This independent point was not mentioned in your point-to-point reply.

Response 4: 

Dear Reviewer, thank you for your valuable feedback. I really appreciate your keen intention you noticed in equations. Math symbols are italicized but text is not italicized. Operators such as “+” are now not italicized. You mentioned point-to-point reply so it can be checked through equations 1-3 that operator “+” is now not in italic form whereas other math symbols are in italic form. These equations are also changed into red color.  

Comment 5:

The figure captions are too short, and there are a lot of errors and inconsistencies, such as “Figure 1:…” “Figur2” “Figure 4: …”

Response 5: 

Dear Reviewer, thank you for your valuable feedback.

We have updated 

 

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 3

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The authors were unable to perceive self-evident issues (a sentence should have a period; whether or not italics should be unified; consistency in using space; etc.). I recommend a minor revision so that the editor can make the final decision without further review.

Author Response

Comment 1: 

The authors were unable to perceive self-evident issues (a sentence should have a period; whether or not italics should be unified; consistency in using space; etc.). I recommend a minor revision so that the editor can make the final decision without further review.

 Response 1:

Dear Reviewer, thank you for your valuable feedback. The sentence has a period and highlighted in the manuscript with red color wherever it was necessary. Moreover, italics are unified and there is consistency in using space. The headings as well as the paragraphs in which there was not consistency and unequal space are now incorporated with equal spaces and marked with red color.