Nature expands Registered Reports across all disciplines
London | New York | Berlin, 3 June 2026
Nature is expanding its Registered Reports format across all the disciplines covered by the journal, including natural, social and clinical sciences, engineering and public health. Previously, the format was limited to cognitive neuroscience and the behavioural and social sciences, and largely to confirmatory research.
Registered Reports enable researchers to submit the rationale, methods and analysis plans for peer review before data are collected or, in the case of secondary analyses, before existing data are accessed. If editors and reviewers judge the research question important and the methods robust, the journal commits in principle to publishing the study regardless of the eventual findings. This approach is intended to strengthen study design, improve transparency and help reduce publication bias.
By extending the format, Nature is broadening both the disciplines and the types of studies eligible for submission, including work such as large-scale data collection and methodological comparisons.
Announcing the policy, Magdalena Skipper, Editor-in-Chief of Nature and Chief Editorial Advisor, Nature Portfolio, commented:
“Registered Reports put the emphasis where it belongs: on important questions, rigorous methods and transparent analysis. By extending this format across all the disciplines in which Nature publishes, we want to support research that is robust, transparent and valuable whatever the results show. This approach can strengthen study design, bring reviewers into the research process earlier, and help to ensure that negative or inconclusive findings get the prominence they deserve.
This development builds on Nature’s long commitment to transparency, rigour and innovation in peer review. From early support for preprints, to mandating transparent peer review, to our new expansion of Registered Reports, we aim to champion community-driven innovation alongside exceptional and world-leading research.”
More details about Registered Reports at Nature can be found here and in an editorial here.
The Registered Reports format is also offered by Nature Communications for hypothesis-driven quantitative research with primary research data (see: https://www.nature.com/ncomms/submit/registered-reports).
Registered Reports are a publishing format in which study methods are peer‑reviewed and accepted before data collection, aiming to reduce publication bias and improve research credibility.
They were first implemented as a journal format by Chris Chambers and colleagues, and were subsequently promoted and developed by a wider group of researchers, including Brian Nosek and Daniël Lakens https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000192.
Springer Nature is one of the leading publishers of research in the world. We publish the largest number of journals and books and are a pioneer in open research. Through our leading brands, trusted for more than 180 years, we provide technology-enabled products, platforms and services that help researchers to uncover new ideas and share their discoveries, health professionals to stay at the forefront of medical science, and educators to advance learning. We are proud to be part of progress, working together with the communities we serve to share knowledge and bring greater understanding to the world. For more information, please visit about.springernature.com and @SpringerNature.
Alice Henchley | Corporate Affairs | Springer Nature
alice.henchley@springernature.com
