Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A Stage 1 submission to Cortex describing a planned fMRI study with full methods and a pre-specified Bayesian analysis
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
A general grant proposal is not a Stage 1 protocol (it is not peer-reviewed for IPA into a publication)
Editorial commentary
A Stage 1 protocol is the first of the two submissions that make up a Registered Report: the introduction, hypotheses, methods, and full analysis plan, submitted and peer-reviewed before any data are collected. Because no results exist yet at this stage, reviewers evaluate the significance of the research question, whether the proposed design can actually answer it, and whether the pre-specified analysis plan is sound — not whether the (as-yet-nonexistent) findings are interesting. A Stage 1 submission that passes review is granted in-principle acceptance (IPA): a binding editorial commitment that publication will not be revoked based on how the results turn out, provided the registered protocol is followed.
How this differs from a Stage 2 results paper
Stage 1 and Stage 2 are sequential halves of the same Registered Report, not two independent publication types. Stage 1 contains no results by definition. Stage 2 is the completed manuscript submitted after data collection, and its review is deliberately narrower — checking adherence to the accepted Stage 1 protocol rather than re-litigating the study’s premise. A Stage 1 protocol also differs from a general grant proposal in that it is peer-reviewed specifically for publication commitment, not for funding.
Example
A Stage 1 submission to a journal offering Registered Reports (over 300 journals currently do, per the Center for Open Science) describing a planned experiment’s full introduction, methods, and pre-specified statistical analysis plan, before any participant has been recruited.
Also known as
Stage 1 RR · RR Stage 1
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
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