Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title: Mitochondrial DNA copy number in cervical exfoliated cells and risk of cervical cancer  
among HPV -positive women  
 
Version: 1 Date: 18 Jan 2020  
 
Reviewer: Paolo Giorgi Rossi  
 
Reviewer's report:  
 
the paper has been improved.  
please be careful to check the English of the new sentences, in some cases the authors gave too 
much credit to the reviewer, that in my cas e has a very poor English! for example in the 
conclusion you state "when the association become clear", but may be it is better to say "become 
detectable" or even to explain better the concept for a reader that did not follow all the dialogue 
between us.  
another very minor issue: you have 5000 cyto negative eligible women in controls and you 
excluded 12000 cyto positives. How is it possible that in a routine check 2/3 of women are 
cytology positive. I think that how the control group has been selected needs  to be better 
described.  
 
 
 
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 necessary controls?  
If not, please specify which controls are required in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the data shown?  
If not, please explain in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
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 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:  
 
Not suitable for publication unless extensively edited  
 
Declaration of competing interests  
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organisation that may in any way gain or lose financially from the publication of this  
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below.  If your reply is yes to any, please give details below.  
 
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