Prospective registration of experiments is very valuable for controversial research areas such as parapsychology. Registration greatly increases the reliability and confidence for reviews or meta-analyses of a line of research. The registered experiments provide a database that is not subject to possible reporting or publication biases. Registration also increases confidence by providing clear evidence that the key hypotheses and analyses were planned prior to conducting the experiment. This documented planning of experiments enhances the methodological quality for an area of research. In medical research, registration of experimental studies is increasingly required as a condition for publication and for regulatory compliance.
The KPU Registry for Parapsychological Experiments is a simple registry that makes the provided information publicly available. It will make it possible for researchers, reviewers, editors and others to identify studies that were planned for a given line of research and to verify that a study report matches its pre-registered information.
We hope that more channels for pre-registration will become available in the future, and intend to provide updates and links to these in due course. Study registration is being developed as one component of the OpenScienceFramework. This will be a tool for all branches of science that can be used not only for registering study details, but also for collaborators to work together to plan and execute their study. We will provide updates as study registration becomes operational in the OpenScienceFramework. We expect that eventually other study registries will become available, including ones for studies to be published in psychology journals.
About the KPU Registry
The KPU Registry for Parapsychological Experiments is primarily intended for confirmatory experiments, but exploratory experiments can also be registered. Registration should be done prior to testing the first participant, but late registration is preferred to no registration. The information sent in for registration will be placed on this website for public viewing and tracking. Please click here to see the registered studies.
The minimum contents for registration of an experiment are:
1. The title or name of the experiment (for listing the experiment in the registry).
2. The name, affiliation, and email address for the lead experimenter(s) for the study.
3. A short description or abstract of the purpose and design of the experiment.
4. A statement or list of the specific hypothesis or hypotheses being tested, and whether each hypothesis is confirmatory or exploratory.
5. The planned number of participants and the number of trials per participant.
6. A statement that the registration is submitted prior to testing the first participant, or indicating the number of participants tested when the registration (or revision to the registration) was submitted.
In addition to this minimum content, further information is highly recommended, particularly for well-planned confirmatory experiments. The additional information includes:
7. The specific statistical test method that is planned for each hypothesis, including any adjustment for multiple analyses.
8. The power analysis or other justification for the number of participants and trials.
9. The methods for randomization in the experiment.
10. A detailed description of the experimental procedure.
This template can be used to provide study information. The registration information (in English, please) should be submitted in Word format and sent as an attachment to an email to Caroline Watt. Dr Watt will add to the Word file the registry ID number and date received, and then will save the file as a PDF whose filename includes the ID number. A registration can be revised, but the initial and revised version will both be posted if the revision is after the first participant has been tested. This study registry is operated following these Standard Operating Procedures.
