Not all pre-registrations are equal

Waldron, Sophie; Allen, Christopher

Abstract

There is growing recognition that troubling numbers of experiments fail to replicate in fields relevant to Neuropsychopharmacology, from neuroimaging [1] to animal behaviour [2]. We believe a counteraction to this, led by pharmacology, is increased emphasis on the distinction between exploratory and confirmatory scientific practices [3]. Exploratory research, where multiple methodologies and analyses are trialled, is vital for discovery. In contrast, confirmatory research requires that this flexibility is minimised to address a well-specified research question. We aim to highlight problems that arise when this boundary is blurred, and how a new vista of publishing formats generally help by nailing down this distinction. However, some formats can allow problematic flexibility to re-enter under a confirmatory guise.

Citation

Waldron, S., & Allen, C. (2022). Not all pre-registrations are equal. Neuropsychopharmacology, 47(13), 2181-2183. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-022-01418-x

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 28, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Aug 18, 2022
• Publication Date: 2022-12
• Deposit Date: Sep 15, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 15, 2023
• Journal: Neuropsychopharmacology
• Print ISSN: 0893-133X
• Electronic ISSN: 1740-634X
• Publisher: Springer Nature
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 47
• Issue: 13
• Pages: 2181-2183
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-022-01418-x
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1194401