Behavioral consequences of second-person pronouns in written communications between authors and reviewers of scientific papers.

ABSTRACT: Pronoun usage's psychological underpinning and behavioral consequence have fascinated researchers, with much research attention paid to second-person pronouns like "you," "your," and "yours." While these pronouns' effects are understood in many contexts, their role in bilateral, dynamic conversations (especially those outside of close relationships) remains less explored. This research attempts to bridge this gap by examining 25,679 instances of peer review correspondence with Nature Communications using the difference-in-differences method. Here we show that authors addressing reviewers using second-person pronouns receive fewer questions, shorter responses, and more positive feedback. Further analyses suggest that this shift in the review process occurs because "you" (vs. non-"you") usag

SUBMITTER: Sun Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10762116 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature