Pre-registration serves several key purposes in epidemiology:
Reducing Bias: By committing to a specific analysis plan before examining the data, researchers can minimize the risk of confirmation bias and other forms of selective reporting. Enhancing Reproducibility: Others can replicate the study using the pre-registered protocol, ensuring that findings are robust and not a result of arbitrary or data-driven decisions. Transparency: It provides a clear record of the research intentions, methods, and planned analyses, which can be compared against the final report to check for deviations.
