Study registration is when you specify the details of your protocol in a registry prior to initiating your research. This provides a time-stamped record of what you set out to do in your study. In order for study registrations to be useful, they must adequately report the methodological details, including the analysis, of the study planned.
Registration of studies can:
– Allow researchers to stake a claim to their ideas
– Help avoid unnecessary duplication of research by making other researchers aware of ongoing studies
– Provide a means to audit for selective outcome reporting and publication bias; see COMPARE example.
– Provide a publicly available record of research findings for patients and the public
Clinical trials: Registration and reporting of clinical trial studies in mandated within Canada (TCPS2; 11.3) and many other nations. OHRI uses the clinicaltrials.gov platform for trail registration. If you are having issues registering your trial, you can contact an administrator. Importantly, when a trial ends, researchers must update the results of their study on the registration. Researchers should use the SPIRIT guideline when preparing a trial protocol and can use the SEPTRE tool to produce their registration.
Systematic reviews: Reviews relevant to “health and social care, welfare, public health, education, crime, justice, and international development, where there is a health-related outcome” should be registered in PROSPERO. Scoping reviews are not accepted here. Researchers can use PRISMA-P `guidelines to draft their protocol.
All other study designs: Studies can be registered using platforms such as the Open Science Framework.
