Builds the point-by-point response letter and the revision it documents, deciding for every referee comment whether to comply, partially comply with a justified alternative, or decline with evidence, and producing a comment ledger in which nothing is unanswered and every claimed change points to a location an editor can check. Enforces the rule that no change is claimed that was not made, that every decline carries evidence rather than an argument, and that the editor's own priorities override the referees' where they conflict. Use this skill when referee reports arrive and someone asks to answer the reviewers, write the response letter, handle an R and R, decide whether …
