Review for 10.1186/s12876-016-0553-x (2016)

Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title:  Patients with longstanding Ulcerative Colitis in remission do not have more Irritable 
Bowel Syndrome -like symptoms than controls.  
 
Version: 0 Date: 20 May 2016 
 
Reviewer:  Askin  Erdogan  
 
Reviewer’s report:  
 
Dear Editor,  
 
I have reviewed the manuscript entitled "Patients with longstanding Ulcerative Colitis in 
remission do not have more Irritable Bowel Syndrome -like symptoms than controls." It is a we ll-
written paper, however I have some comments as given below.  
 
Yours sincerely,  
 
1. Please give the full names in detail before abbreviations in abstract such as: GSRS -IBS 
and HADS.  
 
2. This study did not compare past and present symptoms of patients so it is unfair to make 
the following comment in the conclusion section: "present study supports that also IBS -
like symptoms seem to vanish over time in patients with UC."  
 
3. The control group consisted of subjects who underwent surveillance for hereditary 
familiar colon cancer. Healthy subjects might be more appropriated for this group.  
 
Are the methods appropriate and well described?  
If not, please specify what is required in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Does the work include the n ecessary controls?  
If not, please specify which controls are required in your comments to the authors.  
 
Unable to assess  
 
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the data shown?  
If not, please explain in your comments to the authors.  
 
No 
 
Are you able to assess any statistics in the manuscript or would you recommend an 
additional statistical review?  
If an additional statistical review is recommended, please specify what asp ects require further 
assessment in your comments to the editors.  
 
I recommend additional statistical review  
 
Quality of written English  
Please indicate the quality of language in the manuscript:  
 
Acceptable  
 
Declaration of competing interests  
Please complete a declaration of competing interests, considering the following questions:  
 
1. Have you in the past five years received reimbursements, fees, funding, o r salary from an 
organisation that may in any way gain or lose financially from the publication of this 
manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
2. Do you hold any stocks or shares in an organisation that may in any way gain or lose 
financially from the publ ication of this manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
3. Do you hold or are you currently applying for any patents relating to the content of the 
manuscript?  
 
4. Have you received reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an organization that 
holds or has applied for patents relating to the content of the manuscript?  
 
5. Do you have any other financial competing interests?  
 
6. Do you have any non -financial competing interests in relation to this paper?  
 
If you can answer no to all of the  above, write 'I declare that I have no competing interests' 
below. If your reply is yes to any, please give details below.  
 
I declare that I have no competing interests  
 
I agree to the open peer review policy of the journal. I understand that my name will be included 
on my report to the authors and, if the manuscript is accepted for publication, my named report 
including any attachments I upload will be posted on the websi te along with the authors' 
responses. I agree for my report to be made available under an Open Access Creative Commons 
CC-BY license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ). I understand that any comments 
which I do not wish to be included in my named report can be included as confidential comments 
to the editors, which will not be published . 
 
I agree to the open peer review policy of the journal