Registered Reports: A How-To Guide

Registered Reports are a type of empirical article in which study proposals are peer reviewed and pre-accepted before the research is undertaken. This is achieved by splitting the traditional peer review process into two stages: at ‘Stage 1’, authors submit their study proposal and peer reviewers assess the plausibility of the research questions and the appropriateness of the methodology and analytical plan. Protocols that are favourably reviewed receive ‘In Principle Acceptance’ (IPA) whereby the journal, or platform, commits to publishing the final study regardless of its results. The authors then collect and/or analyse their data. At ‘Stage 2’, they then submit their complete research article and peer reviewers evaluate how closely the authors have followed their protocol and accurately report and interpret their findings. By doing this, Registered Reports are proposed to mitigate many issues seen in the historical research ecosystem: they aim to reduce the potential for questionable research practices by incentivising transparency and reproducibility and reduce publication bias by focusing on methodological and analytical rigour over the nature of the results. This guide provides an overview of what Registered Reports are and how they work, responds to frequently asked questions, outlines barriers and solutions to their implementation, and offers 10 top tips for researchers. It is aimed at students and researchers wanting to learn more about Registered Reports and/or conduct their research through this format.