Publish your Registered Report on F1000Research

Improve reproducibility through rapid, open publication of your Study Protocol and Research Article

Looking to improve the reproducibility and transparency of your research? Registered Reports on F1000Research have you covered.

We believe that the value of science is in the rigor of the method, not the appeal of the results - an ethos at the heart of our publishing model. Choosing to publish your research as a Registered Report puts this into practice, by shifting the focus away from the results and back to the research question. Registered Reports can be used for research in almost any field of study, from psychology and neuroscience, to medicine or ecology.

Registered Reports on F1000Research follow a two-stage process: firstly, the Study Protocol (Stage 1) is published and peer-reviewed by subject experts before data collection begins. Then, once the research has been completed, the Research Article (Stage 2) is published, peer reviewed, and awarded a Registered Report badge.

F1000Research is the first publisher to combine the Registered Reports format with an open, post-publication peer review model. Alongside our open data policy, this format enhances credibility, and takes transparency and reproducibility in research to the next level.

Submit now Instructions for authors

Are you a research funder? Get in touch with our publishing team now to find out how registered reports can assist your grant peer review process, and discuss partnering with F1000Research on a Registered Reports trial for researchers in your community.

Stage 1 Study Protocol Submission Template

Download our free guide for authors on what to cover in the Stage One Study Protocol of your Registered Report. This template explains exactly what you need to include in every section of your article, from the Abstract through to the Data Availability Statement, and more.

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What is a Registered Report?

Registered Reports are a form of article in which the methods and proposed analyses are published and peer-reviewed prior to research being conducted. Registered Reports are already well established in psychology and neuroscience, but this format can be used in almost any field of study.

The publication and review process for Registered Reports is divided into two stages. In Stage 1, reviewers assess published Study Protocols before data is collected. Authors then have the opportunity to refine their proposed methodology based on feedback from reviewers, before collecting any data. In Stage 2, reviewers consider the full published study as a Research Article, including results and interpretation.

Want more information on the publication and peer review process for Registered Reports? View our detailed infographic here.

Why publish your Registered Report on F1000Research?

50% off the APC for your Stage 2 Research Article

Publish your Stage 1 Study Protocol on F1000Research and you will receive 50% off the Article Processing Charge for your Stage 2 Research Article.

Publish your Study Protocol

The unique F1000Research approach to Registered Reports is that the Study Protocol is not just peer-reviewed, but also published as a separate citable item, in addition to the consequent Research Article. Alongside the benefit in having an additional publication and earlier credit for your research, this also supports the transparency at the heart of the Registered Reports format.

Open post-publication peer review

F1000Research is the first publisher to integrate the Registered Report format with an open post-publication peer review model; this not only supports transparency, but means everyone can benefit from the feedback from reviewers at both stages. Authors can openly address any issues raised by reviewers, and readers can also learn from the whole conversation.

Rapid publication

F1000Research offers rapid publication in as few as 14 days, meaning your research can make an impact sooner. Articles are fully citable and ready for peer review.

Expert feedback on your proposed methods

The Registered Reports format allows for expert reviewers to provide constructive feedback on proposed research methods. This gives researchers the opportunity to address methodological issues before data collection, improving the experimental design. If your research is on hold at the moment, Registered Reports offer a great way of getting feedback on experiments you have planned for when you're back in the lab.

How to write your Study Protocol

Interested in writing a Registered Report, but not sure how to prepare your Stage One Study Protocol?

Don’t worry – we know this article type can be a bit confusing.

That’s why we’ve put together a simple guide for authors which runs through what you need to cover in every section of your Stage One Study Protocol before submitting to F1000Research.

This template walks through every section of a Study Protocol step-by-step – from the Title and Abstract, to Hypotheses and Methods, right through to the Data Availability Statement and Acknowledgements. There’s even a handy checklist for authors at the end, so you can tick off each section as you write it, ensuring you don’t miss any crucial information.

We’ve provided this guide in two formats for you to choose from:

A PDF with an editable checklist at the end, ideal for reading and referencing, even when you’re on the move
A fully editable Word document, so you can work on your Stage One Study Protocol directly within the template

Download the PDF Download the Word document

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Featured authors

Dorothy Bishop

Dorothy Bishop, Professor of Developmental Neuropsychology (University of Oxford) is an advocate for Registered Reports. She has published a full Registered Report on Wellcome Open Research, exploring the impact of sex chromosomes on neurodevelopment. In this blog, she explains the benefits that Registered Reports can bring to neuroscience research:

“I am a huge enthusiast for this approach, which I think is good for both science and scientists ... Perhaps the most important benefits are for science itself. With registered reports, there is no scope for publication bias favoring positive findings (because the decision is made before the results are known), nor for the kind of analytic flexibility (p-hacking) that plagues many areas of science and leads to findings that fail to replicate."

Julius Emmrich

Julius Emmrich (Universitätsmedizin Berlin) worked with his co-authors to publish a Stage 1 Study Protocol for their project on stroke and neuroinflammation. In this Q&A, Julius and one of his article’s reviewers, Ádám Dénes, explore how the Registered Reports approach can help to improve study design and generate robust findings:

“Rather than having reviewers point out flaws in the hypothesis, methodology or statistical approach after all results are collected, registered reports provide an opportunity to refine the study design based on reviewers’ comments before a study is undertaken. That may save us time and grey hair down the line.”

About F1000Research

F1000Research is a fully open access publishing platform, offering rapid publication of articles and other research outputs without editorial bias. All articles benefit from transparent post-publication peer review, and editorial guidance on making source data openly available.

F1000Research advocates for transparency and reproducibility in research, and our unique publishing model supports this at every stage. Articles can be published in as few as 14 days, with post-publication peer review creating an open dialogue between authors and their research community. This generates feedback which can be used to improve the article and develop the author's skills.

For Registered Reports, this open feedback loop is particularly important. The two-stage process allows researchers to address any methodological issues before they begin any data collection, not only saving time and resources down the line, but also improving the experimental design itself.

Submit now How it works About our Open Data Policy

Registered Reports | Glossary

Academic publishing uses a lot of jargon, and Registered Reports are no different. That’s why we’ve broken it down for you in this simple glossary. Can't find the definition you're looking for here? Browse the full glossary on our website.

Registered Report

Registered Reports are a form of empirical article in which the methods and proposed analyses are published and reviewed prior to research being conducted. Registered Reports are divided into two separate stages:

Stage One / Study Protocol

The first stage of a Registered Report is a Study Protocol, which is published and peer-reviewed before data collection. This is an article which outlines the proposed methodology and analysis for the research, including a description of the key research question and background literature, hypotheses, experimental procedures, analysis pipeline, a statistical power analysis (or Bayesian equivalent), and pilot data (where applicable).

Stage Two / Research Article

The second stage of a Registered Report is a Research Article. This is an article which is published and peer reviewed after data collection, including results and interpretation.

Open peer review

The phrase “open peer review” is used to describe our formal, invited article review process and means that all reviewer names and peer review reports are publicly accessible.

p-hacking

Also known as data dredging, p-hacking is the (conscious or subconscious) manipulation of data to produce a desired p-value.

Peer review report

Peer review reports are written by invited reviewers, and are open for all to read. They consist of an approval status (Approved, Approved with Reservations, or Not Approved) and comments that explain the status and present any suggestions for improvements. All peer review reports are assigned a DOI. Authors and other registered users can publicly comment on peer review reports.

Publication bias

Research with positive or significant results is more likely to be published than research with null, negative, or insignificant results. This publication bias is problematic because the under-reporting of negative results distorts the literature in a field of study.

Published

At F1000Research, an article is published online before peer review starts (and it cannot then be removed or withdrawn at a later stage, regardless of the outcome of the peer review). Published articles have passed our internal editorial check and are formatted and then put live - published - before peer review begins. As peer review progresses and peer review reports are received, they will appear alongside the published paper. Once an article receives sufficient positive peer review reports, it will be considered to have passed peer review.

Reproducibility

Reproducibility in science means that another researcher could take a research article, use the same input data, and follow the exact methodology and analysis, to obtain the same results. Reproducibility is often cited as a hallmark of robust and credible science, however many published studies are not reproducible (which has led to the so-called 'Reproducibility Crisis'). Registered Reports support reproducibility best practice through the two-stage format, which places the emphasis on the research methods rather than the results.