In 2017 we announced that several BMC journals BMC Biology, BMC Ecology & BMC Medicine would begin accepting Registered Reports. This innovative approach to publishing allows authors to submit their rationale and methods for peer review before any experiments are conducted: shifting the emphasis from research results, to the scientific questions being asked and the strength of the study design.
Why publish a Registered Report?
Registered Reports are designed to reward best practices and bring research closer to its roots, emphasizing inquiry, data gathering and experimentation. By implementing peer review before results are known the format can help eliminate a variety of issues, including low statistical power, selective reporting of results, and publication bias, while allowing complete flexibility to report serendipitous findings.
In addition to receiving a commitment that our journals will publish their research if authors follow their registered methodology, our Editors and reviewers can also provide constructive feedback to help fine-tune study designs prior to data collection.