July  2020

In June, AERA Council approved the addition of registered reports as a new submission option for AERA Open. Registered reports offer a new form of manuscript review (see guidelines). Manuscripts are submitted for review before data are collected and/or analyzed. The manuscripts can then receive “in principle acceptance” based on the quality of the research question and methods rather than on the direction, nature, effect size, or presence or absence of certain findings. 

AERA Open has already experimented with the new type of submission in a special topic collection edited by Justin Reich (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Hunter Gehlbach (Johns Hopkins University), and Casper Albers (University of Groningen). The collection was seen as quite successful by the authors, editors, and guest editors. Noting a growing interest in the education research community, AERA Open editors Mark Warschauer (University of California, Irvine), Greg Duncan (University of California, Irvine), and Nancy Hill (Harvard University) requested that the Journal Publications Committee consider making registered reports a regular option of the journal. 

The Journal Publications Committee was enthusiastic about this submission option and encouraged authors across methods and modes of inquiry to consider registered reports. The Committee advanced its recommendation to AERA Council, which formally approved the option at its June meeting. 

“I am pleased to see the launch of this new submission type for AERA Open,” said AERA Executive Director Felice Levine. “Registered reports, which improve both the iterative nature of research review and the transparency of research, are a perfect fit for AERA Open, which, with the current team at the helm, has been a leader in innovation. In some fields, registered reports have been used somewhat narrowly; in education research, we can explore the opportunity for a wide spectrum of research. ”

Those interested in learning more about registered reports and how to submit to AERA Open are encouraged to read the manuscript guidelines. Interested parties are also welcome to contact the editors with questions, especially AERA Open’s new associate editor, Justin Reich (jreich@mit.edu), who co-guest-edited the special topic collection and will be focusing his attention on this new submission type.