Looks like it's about both. In one portion they say that they want to keep the content, but remove the citations after it's been reviewed. "Do what the editor

Looks like it's about both. In one portion they say that they want to keep the content, but remove the citations after it's been reviewed. "Do what the editor wanted so that when he sent the revised manuscript back to reviewers, they would see I had followed their instructions and added the requisite citations. Then ... when I got the manuscript back before final publication, surreptitiously remove the citations."