Animalstudyregistry.org

Animalstudyregistry.org is an online platform for the preregistration of animal studies conducted worldwide.

It is operated by the German Centre for the Protection of Laboratory Animals (Bf3R) at the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR).

The registry was launched as a reaction to the translational and reproducibility crisis and provides scientists a platform to register an exact study plan prior to the start of experiments in order to prevent selective reporting. This allows reviewers or other scientists to compare the initially registered contents with the final publication. Thereby, animalstudyregistry.org encourages transparency, reproducibility, and animal welfare.

Preregistration of studies involving animals is a powerful tool to address publication bias and to increase transparency and reproducibility in research. Animalstudyregistry.org supports researchers in planning their study by asking specific questions on the study design, methods, statistics and animals used. The authors have the option to choose an embargo period for up to five years during which the study appears in the registry only with its title, the name of the institution, a short abstract and optionally the name of the author.

Each preregistered study receives a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) making the study plan citable.

As a federal institute, the Bf3R can guarantee continuity, data security, and independence of sponsorship. More resources about preregistration can be found here.

See also Norecopa's collection of links to alternatives databases