Does the authors opinions or solutions to the reviewed problem have to be inculded in a review paper? I have submitted a review article and one reviewer stated &quot;Authors should propose their solution(s) in this topic based on the analysis of different literatures.&quot;
So my question is: it is really required (or expected) to include suggestions on how to solve the research question tackled by a review article? I have read numerous reviews (in journals of good reputation) that were just a collection of findings from the reviewed references, with very little opinions from the authors added. To provide solutions would in my oponion require research that authors of review papers might not have done (yet).
So is this reviewer right to ask for this addition to the paper, or would it be ok to decline the request (and if so, with which justification)?
I agree that the request seems odd, but I haven't read your paper. For many things no real &quot;solution&quot; would be possible. For others, it might be. Think about the request and see if there is something that is worth saying in the paper, but it might just be that a note to the editor that the request isn't really possible to fulfill in the current context might be enough.
It is possible that the reviewer is inexperienced, but it is also possible that the reviewer is very experienced and sees something that you haven't noticed. So, it is worth a look.