REVIEWER 1 - COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW
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**Review of "Humanitarian Collapse and Civilian Mortality in Gaza (2023-2025): A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Conflict Mortality Patterns"**

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### **🔍 Step 1. Summary of the Paper**

This manuscript presents a mixed-methods analysis of civilian mortality in Gaza from October 2023 to September 2025, documenting 39,872 fatalities. The paper claims to: (1) develop a model for assessing protection failure through convergent quantitative and qualitative evidence; (2) specify mechanisms of credibility construction in humanitarian documentation under duress; and (3) provide empirical evidence of systematic rather than incidental protection failures. The methodology integrates quantitative analysis of temporal, demographic, and geographic mortality patterns with qualitative thematic analysis of incident documentation, drawing on theoretical frameworks of epistemic justice, moral witnessing, and structural violence. Key findings include front-loaded mortality patterns (42.5% in first three months), disproportionate impact on children (43% of fatalities), and systematic use of explosive weapons in populated areas (68% from airstrikes/blasts).

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### **🔬 Step 2. Evaluation Criteria**

#### **1. Originality / Novelty**
*Qualitative Critique*: While conflict mortality documentation in Gaza has been studied, this paper's temporal scope (2023-2025), mixed-methods integration, and specific focus on credibility construction under information suppression represent meaningful contributions. The application of epistemic justice frameworks to documentation practices offers theoretical novelty.
*Score*: 7/10

#### **2. Scientific Rigor / Methodology**
*Qualitative Critique*: The mixed-methods design is appropriate, but several critical flaws undermine rigor:
- No discussion of sampling methodology for qualitative components
- Missing details on data verification protocols (how conflicting reports were reconciled)
- Statistical analyses are descriptive without confidence intervals or uncertainty quantification
- No discussion of potential duplicate counting in multi-source documentation
- Ethical approval processes for sensitive human data are not addressed
*Score*: 4/10

#### **3. Clarity & Presentation**
*Qualitative Critique*: The writing is generally clear but suffers from:
- Overuse of theoretical jargon without sufficient operationalization
- References to tables/figures that are not included in the submission
- Abstract and conclusions contain strong normative claims that may overstate findings
- Structural issues with truncated content in later sections
*Score*: 5/10

#### **4. Reproducibility & Transparency**
*Qualitative Critique*: Severely lacking:
- No data availability statement
- Missing detailed coding frameworks for qualitative analysis
- Statistical code not provided
- Insufficient description of data collection instruments
- No discussion of missing data handling beyond brief mention of imputation
*Score*: 2/10

#### **5. Significance & Impact**
*Qualitative Critique*: The topic is critically important for humanitarian policy and international law. However, methodological limitations may limit the paper's ability to achieve its claimed impact. The findings could influence documentation standards and accountability mechanisms if methodological concerns are addressed.
*Score*: 8/10

#### **6. Ethics & Integrity**
*Qualitative Critique*: Several concerns:
- No mention of IRB approval or ethical oversight for sensitive conflict data
- Positionality statement is present but insufficiently critical
- Potential for selection bias in documentation sources not adequately addressed
- Strong normative language risks compromising scientific objectivity
*Score*: 4/10

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### **🧪 Step 3. Specific Suggestions for Improvement**

#### **Major Flaws Requiring Revision:**
1. **Methodological Transparency**: Provide complete documentation of data collection protocols, verification procedures, and coding frameworks
2. **Statistical Rigor**: Include confidence intervals, uncertainty measures, and detailed missing data handling procedures
3. **Ethical Compliance**: Document IRB approval and data protection measures for sensitive human subjects data
4. **Objectivity**: Temper strong normative claims with appropriate scientific caution and acknowledge limitations more thoroughly

#### **Minor Flaws:**
1. Complete all referenced tables and figures
2. Reduce theoretical jargon and improve operationalization of concepts
3. Standardize citation format throughout
4. Address truncated content in discussion section

#### **Additional Analyses to Strengthen Manuscript:**
1. Sensitivity analyses for potential duplicate counting
2. Inter-rater reliability measures for qualitative coding
3. Uncertainty quantification for mortality estimates
4. Comparative analysis with other conflict contexts to establish generalizability

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### **📊 Step 4. Final Decision & Justification**

#### **Final Score**: 5/10

#### **Recommendation**: **Reject**

#### **Justification**:
This manuscript addresses a critically important topic with potential for significant humanitarian impact, but suffers from fatal methodological flaws that preclude publication in its current form. The lack of methodological transparency, incomplete statistical reporting, and absence of ethical oversight documentation fundamentally undermine the credibility of the findings. While the mixed-methods approach is conceptually sound and the topic is of utmost importance, the execution fails to meet the rigorous standards required for a high-impact journal.

The paper requires substantial methodological revision, including complete documentation of data collection and verification procedures, proper statistical analysis with uncertainty quantification, and demonstration of ethical compliance. The strong normative positioning also risks compromising scientific objectivity and should be balanced with more cautious interpretation of findings.

I would encourage the authors to conduct a comprehensive revision addressing these concerns and consider resubmission once methodological rigor has been substantially improved. The importance of the topic warrants this investment, but the current manuscript does not meet the threshold for publication.

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