Practical information

Word count: 500 words

Submission deadline: July 12, 2021

The abstract should contain a short description offering a general understanding of the planned study. Authors who submitted an abstract will receive an editorial feedback.

Please submit your abstract via email to gles-osc@gesis.org.

Word count: 5,000-6,000 words

Submission deadline: September 25, 2021

The stage 1 manuscript will include your theoretical background, hypotheses, the data and methods you plan to use, as well as your analysis plan. It should not be modified post-IPA, minor changes are permitted, but further modifications will require explicit approval by the editorial team.

Registered Reports are submitted to a double result-blind review process and are reviewed based on the following criteria:

• The description of the theoretical and empirical background of the research.
• The logic, rationale, and plausibility of the proposed hypotheses.
• The soundness and feasibility of the proposed research design, concept operationalization, variables selected, and statistical method of data analysis.
• Whether the proposed analysis offers an adequate and appropriate test of hypothesis.
• Whether the clarity and degree of methodological detail is sufficient to replicate exactly the proposed data analysis.
• Whether the authors specify the conditions that must be met for their hypotheses to be testable and how they will deal with situations where these conditions are not met.
• Whether the authors have pre-specified sufficient statistical tests for ensuring that the obtained results can test the stated hypotheses, including outcome-neutral tests, robustness and quality checks.

Following the Stage 1 review, manuscripts will receive either an in-principle accepted (IPA), or a revise and resubmit, or a rejection. IPA status means the article will be published, pending the successful completion of the study according to pre-registered methods and analytical procedures, and after adding a defensible and evidence-based interpretation of the results in Stage 2.

Word count: max. 9,000 words

Submission deadline: June 2022

The Stage 2 manuscript extends the Stage 1 manuscript by including the results and discussion of these results after data access and carrying out the pre-registered analysis plan. A final syntax file should be submitted together with the manuscript.

Stage 2 manuscripts should resemble a typical journal article format at this point, including a Results and Discussion section. After completion, reviewers will be asked to assess:

• Whether the theoretical section and the methods section correspond the approved Stage 1 submission.
• Whether the authors adhered precisely to the registered data analysis procedures.
• Where applicable, whether any unregistered analyses are justified, methodologically sound, and informative.
• Whether data visualizations are adequate.
• Whether the authors’ conclusions are justified given the data.