The status quo, challenges, and recommendations of pre-registration in psychological science

Subjects: Psychology >> Other Disciplines of Psychology submitted time 2024-01-04

ZHAO Jiawei XIA Tao HU Chuanpeng

Abstract： In the past decade, researchers in psychological science have introduced new research practices to address issues such as publication bias: pre-registration without peer-review, peer-reviewed registered reports, and registered replication reports. Many journals in the field have accepted registered reports as a new article type, and the numbers of platforms and templates for pre-registration increased significantly. However, criticisms of pre-registration and registered reports still exist, some stemming from misunderstandings, while other criticisms pointed out practical challenges in implementing pre-registration and registered reports. Findings from meta-research revealed that registered reports alleviated the publication bias and improved the quality of research, while pre-registration without peer review failed to achieve similar results. Promoting a wider adoption of pre-registration and registered reports will further improve the openness, reproducibility, and rigor of research, and it requires the concerted efforts of all stakeholders, including individual researchers, academic institutes, and publishers.

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