Registration
Publication bias is widespread in animal research, which means that zero and negative results often end up unpublished in the filing drawer. Studies should be pre-registered (e.g. at https://www.animalstudyregistry.org/) to reduce publication bias and limit the researcher's degree of freedom in the analysis and the tested hypotheses. (Source: BIH QUEST Center)
🔄 Pre-registration platform
The animal experiment register is operated by the German Center for the Protection of Laboratory Animals (Bf3R) at the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR). The register serves to improve research quality and animal welfare ( Heinl et al. 2020 ). It provides a platform to register an exact study plan for studies with animals before starting the experiments. Each study receives a DOI number (Digital Object Identifier). The visibility of the studies can be restricted for a period of up to five years ( link ).
🔄 International registry for preclinical study protocols
This registry is provided with the support of the Transnational AllianCe for Regenerative Therapies In Cardiovascular Syndromes (TACTICS), but is open to studies from all areas of the biomedical sciences. The register aims to promote the online registration of preclinical studies in order to avoid publication bias and replicates regulations that already exist for clinical studies ( link ).
🔄 AsPredicted
The AsPredicted website is not a register, but a simple form of pre-registration that only requires what is necessary to separate exploratory and confirmatory analyzes. Researchers can, however, put the completed forms in a register in order to meet the standards for retention and transparency ( link ).