io-rebuttal

R&R Rebuttal (io-rebuttal)

An IO R&R is a strong signal — first-round accepts are rare at the field's leading IR journal. The editors return anonymous expert reviews with a decision letter and adjudicate, so the response must move every reviewer toward yes on the IR theory and design while keeping the editor confident the revision is convergent — and keep the package verifiable for the post-conditional-acceptance check.

When to trigger

• An R&R decision arrived and you are planning the revision + response memo
• Reviewers disagree (e.g., a rationalist and a constructivist referee pull in opposite directions)
• A reviewer requests analyses or model changes that would alter the paper's claims
• Writing the cover note to the editor summarizing the revision

Strategy

1. Read the editor's letter as the rubric. The editor signals which points are decisive — solve those first; the editor adjudicates disagreements among referees.
2. One point-by-point response, every comment addressed. Quote each comment, then respond. Never skip one — silence reads as non-compliance.
3. Concede or rebut explicitly, with evidence. For each: did what was asked (say where, with the new text/table number), or push back respectfully with a reason (IR theory, level of analysis, identification, or evidence). A well-argued disagreement beats a hollow capitulation that weakens the theory.
4. Reconcile paradigm-driven conflicts openly. When a rationalist referee and a constructivist referee want opposite things, say so, choose a principled path consistent with your IR argument, and explain the tradeoff to the editor. Don't silently satisfy one and ignore the other.
5. Protect the contribution. Add robustness, scope conditions, and clarifications; resist changes that dilute the generalizable IR claim that earned the R&R. Defend the international-level mechanism rather than over-claiming.
6. Keep anonymity intact in the revised manuscript (still double-blind; third-person self-citation), and keep results and formal proofs re-runnable so IO staff verification after conditional acceptance stays fast (see io-transparency-and-data-policy).

Response-memo format

For each reviewer comment:

> [Quoted reviewer comment]

Response: [What we did / why we respectfully disagree, in IR terms].
Change: [Section/page/table-figure number where the revision appears].

Open with a short summary of the main changes to the editor; group by reviewer; end each entry with the location of the change so the editor can verify quickly.

Referee-objection playbook (the recurring IO pushbacks and their fixes)

Most IO R&R comments fall into a few families, each with a concede-or-rebut posture that protects the generalizable IR claim.

Referee objection	Default posture	The move
"Selection into treaty membership"	concede, defend design	add a ratification-timing/instrument or selection model; report what changes
"Mechanism institution→outcome unspecified"	concede	state the cross-border mechanism and add its observable implication as a test
Rationalist vs. constructivist referees clash	adjudicate openly	pick the path consistent with your theory; explain the tradeoff to the editor

Worked rebuttal vignette (illustrative)

Reviewer 2 (rationalist) calls the treaty-compliance result "just selection." Reviewer 1 (constructivist) wants more on norm internalization. The editor flags selection as decisive. The response (a) answers the editor's decisive point first — a ratification-timing design plus sensitivity analysis shows the effect attenuates by about a third but stays positive (illustrative), in a new SI table; (b) reconciles the paradigm conflict openly — R1's norm channel enters as a scope-conditioning mechanism, not a rival, consistent with the commitment theory; (c) ends each entry with the section/table location. The revised analysis stays scripted so IO's post-acceptance re-run still passes.

Anti-patterns

• Ignoring or merging away a comment without a visible response
• Capitulating to a request that breaks the IR argument or the level of analysis just to please a referee
• Defensive or dismissive tone toward expert referees
• "We thank the reviewer" with no actual change or argued reason
• Adding analyses that quietly contradict the original claim without acknowledging it
• Letting the revised manuscript or new exhibits/proofs drift out of sync with the package IO will verify
• Satisfying one paradigm's referee by silently abandoning the rival's concern the editor also weighs

Output format

【Editor's decisive points】addressed first? [list]
【Coverage】every reviewer comment answered? [Y/N]
【Concede vs rebut】each tagged with evidence + change location
【Paradigm/referee conflicts】reconciled and explained to editor? [Y/N]
【Contribution protected】no dilution of the generalizable IR claim? [Y/N]
【Anonymity + verifiable package/proofs maintained】[Y/N]
【Next】resubmit via Editorial Manager

Supplementary resources

• ../../resources/official-source-map.md — review model, anonymous reviews to author, verification-before-final-acceptance policy