Reviewer’s report
Title: 
Commercial sex work among university students: A case study of four public universities in Ghana
Version: 
1 
Date: 
26 Dec 2020
Reviewer's report:
Comments to the author:
Thanks for submitting this article, which I found its topic to be of relevance as it highlights a situation
unfortunately occurs across countries and still at the shadows in many higher education institutions. The
empirical analysis is especially interesting and has potential. However, the article has substantial and
fundamental weaknesses, which need to be addressed before it can be considered for publication. 
First of all, the approach of the object of study is problematic. In the first section, in the Background', it is
not mentioned at all what is the goal of the article, in which type of scientific international literature it is
framed, and thus to which scientific debates this article is speaking to. This first section of 'background' is
more common identified in a report rather than in a scientific article. Following this 'Background', it is
expected some state of the art, but as mentioned, the article does not have any section that explains what is
the current scientific literature in which it is framed. So, while reading it the reader gets puzzled in what is
really the intention of the author(s) with this study. 
The results are presented in a descriptive way. And finally, in the discussion, any further analysis is done -
nor even asking why students do what they do, who are the ones that fall victims of prostitutions, how this
operates in Ghana for instance in comparison to other countries. Too many questions are left unanswered
from the very beginning. 
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Declaration of competing interests
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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?
Yes
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?
No