Review for 10.1186/s12876-023-02743-1 (2023)

Reviewer’s report
Title: 
Repeatability of Radiomics Studies in Colorectal Cancer: A Systematic
Review
Version: 
1 
Date: 
03 Jun 2022
Reviewer's report:
PEER REVIEWER ASSESSMENTS: 
OBJECTIVE - Full research articles: is there a clear objective that addresses a
testable research question(s) (brief or other article types: is there a clear
objective)?
Yes - there is a clear objective
DESIGN - Is the current approach (including controls and analysis protocols)
appropriate for the objective?
No - there are minor issues
EXECUTION - Are the experiments and analyses performed with technical rigor
to allow confidence in the results?
Yes - experiments and analyses were performed appropriately
STATISTICS - Is the use of statistics in the manuscript appropriate?
N/A - there are no statistics in this study
INTERPRETATION - Is the current interpretation/discussion of the results
reasonable and not overstated?
Yes - the author's interpretation is reasonable
OVERALL MANUSCRIPT POTENTIAL - Is the current version of this work
technically sound? If not, can revisions be made to make the work technically
sound?
Maybe - with major revisions
PEER REVIEWER COMMENTS: 
GENERAL COMMENTS: 
The authors conducted a systematic review evaluating the repeatability and
reporting quality of radiomics in colorectal cancer. The authors should be
commended for their work. It is certainly a titanic task to analyse this number of
articles and discuss their outcomes. The topic is relevant and comes at a good
point in time. However, there are several aspects that should be improved. 
As a
personal recommendation, I suggest the introduction to be shortened to max of
300 words. Make it concise and goal-orientated. Avoid what everybody knows.
In the MM section, inclusion criteria should be described as PICO criteria. It
seems random key words where used to extract articles without a clear and
objective plan. Was a librarian or statistician involved in the literature search?
Why is there no ROBINS risk of bias if PRISMA guidelines were followed?
Why was search deadline 2020? If publications on the topic have been increasing
in recent years then one year and a half years were left out. 
Needs to be updated.
I would like a to see a table of the included articles. Just one line per article that
includes the basic information that was extracted. I also suggest a proof read by
an english language native speaker.
REQUESTED REVISIONS: 
Mainly the previously described points about PICO criteria, Robins RoB,
updated search, shortening and making the manuscript more concise and reader-
friendly in general to readership not acquainted with radiology, table of included
studies with information extracted.
ADDITIONAL REQUESTS/SUGGESTIONS: 
I would be happy to re-review this work after the suggested changes are carried.
These are essential to any systematic review and are in no way review-biased. I
suggest the authors to review the PRISMA statement.
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Is the study design appropriate to answer the research question (including the use
of appropriate controls), and are the conclusions supported by the evidence
presented?
No
Are the methods sufficiently described to allow the study to be repeated?
No
Is the use of statistics and treatment of uncertainties appropriate?
Yes
Is the presentation of the work clear?
No
Are the images in this manuscript (including electrophoretic gels and blots) free
from apparent manipulation?
Yes