vignettes/creating_prereg_form.Rmd
creating_prereg_form.RmdTo start creating a (pre)registration form, use preregr::form_create(). Only the title and the version fields are mandatory, but when the author isn’t specified, this is shown as NA. When the date is omitted, today’s date is inserted. The form is prefilled with one instruction, one section, and one item.
formExample <-
preregr::form_create(
title = "Minimal form with only a few fields",
version = "0.0.1",
author = "Stibbons, P."
) |>
preregr::form_show();
#>
#> ── (Pre)registration form ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#>
#> ℹ Title: Minimal form with only a few fields
#> ℹ Author: Stibbons, P.
#> ℹ Date: 2023-05-04
#>
#> ── Instructions ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#>
#> ── First instruction ──
#>
#> Actual instructions
#>
#> ── Sections and items ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#>
#> ── Section: Example Section ──
#>
#> ℹ Example Label [example_item]: Example item description
#> To add actual content, use preregr::form_add_instruction(), preregr::form_add_section(), and preregr::form_add_item(). If the default instruction, section, and items still exist, they will be replaced.
formExample <-
formExample |>
preregr::form_add_instruction(
heading = "Instructions",
description = paste0(
"This form is simple, so it doesn't require much ",
"instruction. Still, it's advisable to always RTFM, ",
"and in the case of (pre)registration forms, the ",
"instructions are the manual. So better read closely!"
)
) |>
preregr::form_add_section(
id = "only_section",
label = "Only Section",
description = paste0(
"This is the only section in this form. That's ",
"because this is such a simple form. However, that ",
"means this section is very important, because it ",
"contains all the items. Therefore, you may want to ",
"study this section description very carefully."
)
) |>
preregr::form_add_item(
id = "study_title",
label = "Study Title",
section_id = "only_section",
description = paste0(
"Think of a catchy title, preferably with a colon in ",
"the middle. Bonus points for pop culture references."
)
) |>
preregr::form_add_item(
id = "registration_type",
label = "Registration type",
section_id = "only_section",
description = paste0(
"Describe briefly why you are (pre)registering this ",
"study. For example, this might be a preregistration ",
"to allow others to know you're doing this study; or to ",
"make it clear you value transparency in science; or to ",
"remember your original plans later on. Or this might be ",
"a registration to update your plans after the data came ",
"in; or to document pragmatic changes in plans."
)
) |>
preregr::form_show();
#>
#> ── (Pre)registration form ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#>
#> ℹ Title: Minimal form with only a few fields
#> ℹ Author: Stibbons, P.
#> ℹ Date: 2023-05-04
#>
#> ── Instructions ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#>
#> ── Instructions ──
#>
#> This form is simple, so it doesn't require much instruction. Still, it's
#> advisable to always RTFM, and in the case of (pre)registration forms, the
#> instructions are the manual. So better read closely!
#>
#> ── Sections and items ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
#>
#> ── Section: Only Section ──
#>
#> ℹ Study Title [study_title]: Think of a catchy title, preferably with a colon in the middle. Bonus points for pop culture references.
#>
#> ℹ Registration type [registration_type]: Describe briefly why you are (pre)registering this study. For example, this might be a preregistration to allow others to know you're doing this study; or to make it clear you value transparency in science; or to remember your original plans later on. Or this might be a registration to update your plans after the data came in; or to document pragmatic changes in plans.
#> It is also possible to insert the form into an R Markdown document using preregr::form_knit():
preregr::form_knit(formExample);This form is simple, so it doesn’t require much instruction. Still, it’s advisable to always RTFM, and in the case of (pre)registration forms, the instructions are the manual. So better read closely!
Alternatively, you can export the form to a local spreadsheet file so you can import it later:
preregr::form_to_xlsx(
formExample,
file = "C:/Data/Research/amazing-new-project/prereg-form.xlsx"
);For example, this is a general (pre)registration form for systematic reviews:
preregr::form_knit(systematicReview_exampleForm);This Systematic Review Registration Form is intended as a general-purpose registration form. The form is designed to be applicable to reviews across disciplines (i.e., psychology, economics, law, physics, or any other field) and across review types (i.e., scoping review, review of qualitative studies, meta-analysis, or any other type of review). That means that the reviewed records may include research reports as well as archive documents, case law, books, poems, etc. This form, therefore, is a fall-back for more specialized forms and can be used if no specialized form or registration platform is available. Below are some currently available specialized registration tools you may consider:
Specialized Registration Platforms: - PROSPERO is a database of review protocols for health-related systematic reviews.
Specialized Guidance: - The Non-Interventional, Reproducible, and Open (NIRO) Systematic Reviews guideline also includes fields specific to non-interventional reviews.
Many disciplines have developed reporting guidelines for specific types of reviews (e.g., ROSES: the RepOrting standards for Systematic Evidence Syntheses in environmental research, and PRISMA: the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses). Whereas reporting guidelines were optimized for application after conclusion of a systematic review, this form was optimized to publicly register (‘freeze’) the research plans (or to record adjustments to research plans) before (or during) a systematic review. These different end goals resulted in different choices regarding included items. For example, this form includes a number of questions about planning that are important for a registration but typically not included in reporting guidelines.
Nonetheless, these reporting guidelines do partly capture the same information as registration forms. For each item in this form, we specified the corresponding PRISMA item (PRISMA items P1-P22 and P25-27 were applicable; P16-P23 cover reporting of results and P24 refers to registration forms like this). Researchers planning to use a specific reporting standard to report the results of their review, should enter the information required by that reporting standard in the corresponding (overarching) fields of this form.
Due to the general intended use of this form, items may not be applicable to all types of reviews. Therefore, none of the items are mandatory. However, the more items you can complete in detail, the more useful your registration will be so check carefully whether you did not accidently omit an item. If an item asks about a procedure you do not plan to use or is not applicable, indicate that in the corresponding field (including, ideally, the underlying reason).
You should be transparent about any deviations from the preregistration and provide the rationale for these deviations in your final review. If you already foresee some deviations when filling out the form (e.g., you anticipate that you will not have enough studies in a moderator group), provide a contingency plan for these deviations in the relevant parts of the registration.
The aim of this registration form is to be optimally inclusive (i.e., to be usable for registration of any systematic review, regardless of scientific discipline or review type). Because this aim precludes 1:1 correspondence with the existing reporting guidelines, this form is also intended as a basis to develop more specialized forms that do correspond closely to more specific reporting guidelines. Such specialized can include, for example, additional fields, added comments, and worked examples. Please contact the Center of Open Science at contact@cos.io if you would like to propose such a specialized version. Below you can find the currently planned improvements/extensions including contact information of the person leading the project. Please do reach out if you want to be involved in any of these projects!