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Ginte Medzvieckaite Post 1

• 17 February 2020, 3:28 PM

Preregistered studies

I have never preregistered a  study myself, since it is not so common in the subject I come from. However, preregistration sounds like a good idea. Maybe I should have done it with some of my research projects...

Marie Weiel-Potyagaylo Post 2 in reply to 1

• 18 February 2020, 1:09 PM

Hi Ginte!

The same is true for me. I am a biophysicist and mainly work with computational simulations of biomolecules. What field do you come from?

I think, independent of the research subject or "mode", some form of preregistration adapted to the specific field is always possible and definitely a good idea. By this means, one it "forced" to precisely phrase the research question, work out a detailed plan on what one actually plans to "do" to generate the data to be analyzed - may it be experiments or simulations -, and how this data is to be analyzed, i.e. what quantities will be extracted/calculated/looked at to interpret them and infer the final results. By doing so, one literally thinks through the complete research process from the very beginning to the ultimate end, which I consider to be highly beneficial, although I can imagine that this seems to be kind of hard work initially, when one is not completely into the topic yet.

I will definitely try this out for my next research project!

Emma Harris

Emma Harris
Moderator
Post 5 in reply to 2

• 19 February 2020, 8:24 AM

We interviewed Brian Nosek from the Center for Open Science and he discussed this exact idea. The episode is out tomorrow and I will send everyone here a link via email. 

Juan Alcaide Jimenez Post 6 in reply to 2

• 22 February 2020, 4:07 PM

Hi,

I didn’t know this concept before and it is also very interesting for me.

I generally agree with the ideas said in this forum but I have some doubts about the real novelty of the concept.

Considering that most of the research performed in the academy is based on grants obtained after submitting applications to the corresponding calls, I think that many of the issues that pre-registration focuses on are the same that have to be considered and stated in grant applications. If the process ofr evaluating grant applications is appropriate, many of the issues that pre-registration deals with should be solved at that phase.

Regards,

Emma Harris

Emma Harris
Moderator
Post 9 in reply to 6

• 25 February 2020, 2:37 PM

That is a very good point, and in theory that is how it should work. However, in practice funders are also part of a system that relies too much on impact factors and on big story discoveries so scientists can also feel they must prove their research has high impact to justify the grants. Preregistration can be a way of relieving some of the pressure by allowing negative or incremental results to be published. 

Natacha Klein Kafer Post 7 in reply to 2

• 23 February 2020, 8:38 PM

I wonder how pre-registration could work for the Humanities, and what kind of adaptations would be necessary. I am going to brainstorm about it with some of my colleagues!

Emma Harris

Emma Harris
Moderator
Post 8 in reply to 7

• 25 February 2020, 2:05 PM

Great question, I am from the Humanities myself so you have got me thinking. I think in the social sciences it could work quite well. Maybe for archival research it could work...but for textual analysis in say literature or media studies it would be really hard!

Tammy Shadbolt

Tammy Shadbolt Post 3 in reply to 1

• 18 February 2020, 3:20 PM • Edited by the author on 18 February 2020, 3:21 PM

I am starting to wish I had done this MOOC course when I was doing my PhD! I think I would certainly have used pre-registration as a means of streamlining my exploratory ideas that were somewhat all over the place as they often are as a new researcher. Now in a PDRA job position I think I would definitely like to try pre-registration for some the projects I have currently at the early planning stage...

Emma Harris

Emma Harris Post 4 in reply to 3

• 19 February 2020, 8:22 AM

I relate Tammy, I wish I had known all the things I have learned training researchers over the years when I myself was one! If you do preregistration please let us (ORION) know how you find it!