Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title:  Association of Endogenous Progesterone Levels in Young Women Using Hormonal 
Contraception with Recent HIV -1 Infection  
 
Version: 1 Date: 26 Feb 2019 
 
Reviewer:  Reviewer  2 
 
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 major issues  
 
 
EXECUTION - Are the experiments and analyses performed with technical rigor to allow 
confidence in the results?  
 
No - there are minor issues  
 
 
Statistics - Is the use of statistics in the manuscript appropriate?  
 
No - there are issues with the statistics in the study  
 
 
INTERPRETATION - Is the current interpretation/discussion of the results reasonable and not 
overstated?  
 
No - there are major issues  
 
 
OVERALL MANUSCRIPT PO TENTIAL - 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: Overall, it is an interesting study but the methods  imposes some 
limitation that needs authors to acknowledge and tune their language based on the significant 
limitations of the study.  
 
 
REQUESTED REVISIONS:  
 
Small sample size, lack of power analysis, potential selection bias and univariate analysis are 
major limiting factors that significantly restrict interpretation of these results. Authors should be 
cautious using words like "confirm" when interpreting their results since results are not strong 
enough for such statements.  
 
 
Minor revision: All abbreviations must be fully explained when being used for the first time in 
the text and also in all table legends.  
 
Note: This reviewer report can be downloaded - see attached pdf file.  
 
Are the methods appropriate and well described?  
If not, please specify what is required in your comments to the authors.  
 
No 
 
Does the work include the necessary controls?  
If not, please specify which controls are required in your comments to the authors.  
 
No 
 
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, p lease specify what aspects require further 
assessment in your comments to the editors.  
 
I am able to assess the statistics  
 
Quality of written English  
Please indicate the quality of language in the manuscript:  
 
Needs some language corrections before being published  
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, or 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 publication of this manuscript, either now or in t he 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.  
 
This reviewer has been recruited by a partner organization, Research Square. Reviewers with 
declared or apparent competing interest s are not utilized for these reviews. This reviewer has 
agreed to publication of their comments online under a Creative Commons Attribution License 
attributed to Research Square and was paid a small honorarium for completing the review within 
a specified t imeframe. Honoraria for reviews such as this are paid regardless of the reviewer 
recommendation.  
 
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 accept ed for publication, my named report 
including any attachments I upload will be posted on the website 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