Paper Short Abstract

This study explores attitudes to and experiences with preregistration in Swiss animal researchers, highlighting negative attitudes, low awareness, and perceived barriers such as bureaucracy, time costs, and low flexibility. These findings offer guidance in view of facilitating preregistration.

Paper Abstract

Background and aims: Preregistration has long been established as standard practice in clinical research and is increasingly taken up in other fields. However, it remains uncommon in animal research. This study aimed to:

1. evaluate experiences with study preregistration in animal researchers in Switzerland;

2. describe their attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, intentions, and motivations, and obstacles regarding preregistration;

3. identify associations for these outcomes;

4. identify the perceived facilitators and barriers of preregistration; and

5. derive suggestions for interventions to facilitate preregistration.

Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among all study directors of ongoing animal experiments in Switzerland.

Results: Of the 1,386 study directors, 418 (30% return rate; 41% female; age M = 46.9, SD = 9.2) completed the survey. Among them, 39% had never heard of preregistration, and only 10% had preregistered studies before participating in the survey. On average, participants reported rather negative attitudes towards preregistration, negative subjective norms, relatively low perceived behavioral control, intention, and motivation, as well as high perceived obstacles regarding preregistration. Bureaucracy (78%), time costs (71%), and low flexibility (66%) were the most common perceived barriers to preregistration. However, participants with less research experience and those with preregistration experience expressed less negative views about preregistration.

Discussion: These findings provide detailed insights into the barriers and facilitators of preregistration in animal research. They thus offer guidance on future interventions aimed at facilitating preregistration of animal research in Switzerland and beyond.