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Registered Reports

Registered reports are a publication format where researchers submit a Stage 1 proposal to a journal which consists of an introduction and proposed methods and analysis plan (similar to a preregistration). This proposal undergoes peer review, and the decision about whether to accept the paper is made based on this proposal, before data collection or analysis occur. Approval at this stage is called an "in-principle acceptance" or "IPA". Given an IPA, the research team then conducts the research, analyzes the data, and prepares the final manuscript noting any deviations from the original proposal. This Stage 2 manuscript undergoes peer review again for evaluation of adherence to the original manuscript. 

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Registered reports are relatively new, so our research team has compiled resources for registered reports on this page. You can explore...​

  • Benefits and barriers to registered reports

  • A database for journals that publish registered reports

  • Training videos and materials for registered reports

  • External resources

Benefits and Barriers

There are many benefits of registered reports, but also some remaining barriers. 

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Benefits:

  • Address problems like publication bias (where results which are statistically significant, or support hypotheses are more likely to be published than those that do not). 

  • Reduce wasted resources, where studies which are run always contribute to the published literature, rather than relegated to a file-drawer

  • Improved research implementation, where peer review prior to running the study should lead to higher quality studies

  • Incentivize replications, because replications which include results can be difficult to publish (failure to replicate is highly questioned, and successful replication is considered trivial), these types of publications are well-suited for registered reports

  • Reduce incentives for questionable research practices, which are practices that are often used to increase the publishability of research (e.g., p-hacking or HARKING). Since the paper is already accepted, there is no need to manipulate the results to ensure publication. 

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But while there are many benefits of registered reports, there are still a variety of barriers. Some of these are informational (we just don't know that much about registered reports), some are systematic (how journals implement RRs), and some are inherent in the process. Our research team aims to identify and describe these barriers, while also developing tools to help address informational barriers, work with stakeholders to improve systematic barriers, and work with researchers to identify barriers which mean registered reports may not be recommended for all research projects. 

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Barriers:

  • It is difficult to find journals that publish registered reports! To address this barrier, we have created the database below which can be used to find journals which suit your needs. 

  • Journals don't provide a lot of information about their policies around registered reports. Our team documented this limitation in Montoya, Krenzer, & Fossum (2021). 

  • Many researchers perceive that registered reports may take too long, or slow down research. Our team is currently working to document review times and other issues which might factor into "timing" of registered reports.

  • Many researchers are concerned that registered reports may lead to their work being scooped, we address this and other barriers in the training videos below!

Database of Journals

Training Videos and Materials

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