Abstract
Keywords
The Registered Reports Special Topic presented an opportunity for AERA Open to support a process that is aligned with its mission and for authors and reviewers to engage constructively around strengthening the quality and transparency of research.
When the special topic was announced, I was encouraged to see that AERA Open was hosting a Registered Reports issue because it is a natural complement to the journal’s open science orientation. The review process designed by the editors of the Registered Reports Special Topic supported strong research designs and increased transparency. Through my involvement in the Special Topic, I have further solidified my belief that there is a great deal of value that can be gained by the field of education if preregistration is encouraged and becomes more mainstream. The field would benefit if AERA Open and other leading journals developed and instituted processes for preregistration and advance review alongside the traditional peer review process.
As an early career scholar, the engagement of the editors and reviewers throughout the preregistration process was invaluable. I received attentive and insightful feedback on my study during multiple rounds of review in the preregistration phase and again after full manuscript submission. I appreciated the critical engagement of the editors and reviewers with all aspects of the study, from motivation through analyses and conclusion. They made my research plan and, ultimately, my article much stronger.
The process was smooth overall, but I did have technical issues with publicly posting my preregistered analytic plan on the recommended EdArxiv site. I appreciated the flexibility of the editors with regard to where authors posted our preregistered analytic plan. If preregistration continues to grow as a trend and receives the support of journals in the field, it would be helpful to develop a guide to preregistration and commonly used platforms for future education researchers who opt to preregister.
