Reducing bias, increasing transparency and calibrating confidence with preregistration

Tom E. Hardwicke () and Eric-Jan Wagenmakers ()
Additional contact information
Tom E. Hardwicke: University of Amsterdam
Eric-Jan Wagenmakers: University of Amsterdam

Nature Human Behaviour, 2023, vol. 7, issue 1, 15-26

Abstract: Abstract Flexibility in the design, analysis and interpretation of scientific studies creates a multiplicity of possible research outcomes. Scientists are granted considerable latitude to selectively use and report the hypotheses, variables and analyses that create the most positive, coherent and attractive story while suppressing those that are negative or inconvenient. This creates a risk of bias that can lead to scientists fooling themselves and fooling others. Preregistration involves declaring a research plan (for example, hypotheses, design and statistical analyses) in a public registry before the research outcomes are known. Preregistration (1) reduces the risk of bias by encouraging outcome-independent decision-making and (2) increases transparency, enabling others to assess the risk of bias and calibrate their confidence in research outcomes. In this Perspective, we briefly review the historical evolution of preregistration in medicine, psychology and other domains, clarify its pragmatic functions, discuss relevant meta-research, and provide recommendations for scientists and journal editors.

Date: 2023
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-022-01497-2 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nathum:v:7:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1038_s41562-022-01497-2

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/nathumbehav/

DOI: 10.1038/s41562-022-01497-2

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Human Behaviour is currently edited by Stavroula Kousta

More articles in Nature Human Behaviour from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().