Pre-registration in social psychology-A discussion and suggested template

•We suggest elements for pre-registration in social psychology.•We offer initial guidelines to facilitate the process of pre-registration.•We provide a brief history of pre-registration in medicine and psychology.•Two models of pre-registration are outlined: reviewed and unreviewed pre-registration.•Benefits and drawbacks of both models are discussed.

Pre-registration of studies before they are conducted has recently become more feasible for researchers, and is encouraged by an increasing number of journals. However, because the practice of pre-registration is relatively new to psychological science, specific guidelines for the content of registrations are still in a formative stage. After giving a brief history of pre-registration in medical and psychological research, we outline two different models that can be applied-reviewed and unreviewed pre-registration-and discuss the advantages of each model to science as a whole and to the individual scientist, as well as some of their drawbacks and limitations. Finally, we present and justify a proposed standard template that can facilitate pre-registration. Researchers can use the template before and during the editorial process to meet article requirements and enhance the robustness of their scholarly efforts.