The nuts and bolts of Registered Reports: Lessons learned from a funding initiative fostering Open Science Practices in the psychology of religion and spirituality

This paper reflects on the outcomes of a targeted funding initiative that supported Registered Reports (RRs) in the psychology of religion and spirituality. Conducted from 2022 to 2024, this Open Science of Religion (OSR) initiative aimed to promote open science practices and improve research quality by incentivizing the RR publication format through small grants, editorial support, and reviewer honoraria. Across 16 funded RR projects, survey data and qualitative feedback from participating authors revealed clear benefits: early and constructive feedback before data collection improved methodological and statistical rigor; preregistration enhanced hypothesis specification; the assurance of publication regardless of results reduced publication bias. Challenges included lengthy timelines, high reviewer demands, administrative obstacles, and difficulties aligning RR schedules with academic deadlines, particularly for early-career researchers. Nevertheless, most participants reported the experience as professionally transformative, citing improved research planning, statistical literacy, and commitment to open science as perceived benefits. Based on these insights, we propose recommendations for researchers, editors, and funders to streamline RR workflows, ensure sustainable incentives, and expand capacity building beyond Western contexts. Overall, the OSR initiative demonstrates that modest, well-structured incentives can meaningfully foster transparent, rigorous, and reproducible research practices within underrepresented subfields of psychology.