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Editorial
. 2023;28(2):55.
doi: 10.1007/s10664-022-10277-5. Epub 2023 Mar 11.

Registered reports in software engineering

Neil A Ernst  1 , Maria Teresa Baldassarre  2
Affiliations
Editorial

Registered reports in software engineering

Neil A Ernst et al. Empir Softw Eng. 2023.

Abstract

Registered reports are scientific publications which begin the publication process by first having the detailed research protocol, including key research questions, reviewed and approved by peers. Subsequent analysis and results are published with minimal additional review, even if there was no clear support for the underlying hypothesis, as long as the approved protocol is followed. Registered reports can prevent several questionable research practices and give early feedback on research designs. In software engineering research, registered reports were first introduced in the International Conference on Mining Software Repositories (MSR) in 2020. They are now established in three conferences and two pre-eminent journals, including this one (EMSE). We explain the motivation for registered reports, outline the way they have been implemented in software engineering, and outline some ongoing challenges for addressing high quality software engineering research.

Keywords: Registered report; Research methods; Software engineering.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Stages of the Registered Reports workflow. Center for Open Science (https://www.cos.io/initiatives/registered-reports?#tabid3) CC-BY-NoDerivs 4.0
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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