Preregistration is when you make your research plan publicly available in advance of your study. Otherwise known as a study protocol, it is a record of decisions taken about study design and methodology which is created at the preparation stage before collecting data.
Some journals allow authors to publish registered reports, that is articles presenting study design and proposed methods which are peer-reviewed. If the registered report is accepted after peer review, the study's results will be published regardless of the outcome.
Preregistration serves to avoid bias towards positive results in published research. Negative or statistically non-significant results may not be as eye-catching but they are equally important in progressing knowledge.
It promotes transparency and protects authors from suspicions of selective reporting.
It boosts statistical power of research in your subject area, and it helps to reduce replication of effort.
There are various platforms where researchers can preregister study protocols for free. Some platforms offer preregistration templates to help create study plans.
Below is a list of selected platforms offering free preregistration services:
It is a type of an article where authors share their research questions, hypotheses and proposed methods ahead of collecting data and formulating results. If the registered report is accepted after peer review, the study's results will be published regardless of whether the outcome is positive, negative, or statistically non-significant.
Publishing a registered report does not limit the authors' future publication to pre-registered analyses only. When unexpected results are obtained, these can also be published but must be differentiated from registered hypothesised results.
The number of journals that have adopted registered reports is increasing. The most exhaustive and regularly updated list of those can be found on the Center for Open Science website.
It is a version of the paper that has not yet been peer-reviewed. It may be a working paper, a manuscript prepared for submission, or a paper submitted for publication but not yet accepted.
It is an increasingly common practice to share research results by making preprints publicly available. Doing so allows researchers to share their findings quickly with the wider research community and to receive early feedback. It can also improve the visibility and impact of your research.
Most preprint repositories assign digital object identifiers (DOIs) to their records. This is beneficial for the visibility of the preprint. Preprints are often cited in the media and in other researchers' works. Bearing this in mind, make sure that your preprint is well-written and formatted according to the repository's guidelines.
Before you share a preprint, get the approval from your co-authors and check the publisher's policy on preprints via the Open policy finder.
Choose a reputable preprint repository. If there is a discipline-specific repository for your subject area, this will be a better choice than a generic preprint server.
Once you have uploaded the preprint to a repository of your choice, you can also showcase it on your Pure profile by creating a record in Pure and linking it to the preprint's DOI.
DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC PREPRINT SERVERS
GENERIC PREPRINT SERVERS
