Protocols

A protocol is a detailed plan of what you intend to undertake within a review or other research work. A systematic review protocol describes the rationale, hypothesis, and planned methods of the review. It should be prepared before a review is started and used as a guide to carry out the review. 

Publishing or registering a protocol in a register or a journal will help to avoid duplication of research.  The Cochrane Handbook of Systematic Reviews, Part 2, Chapter 1.5 states that preparing a protocol “reduces the impact of review authors’ biases, promotes transparency of methods and processes ... and allows peer review of the planned methods.”  

The PLoS Medicine Editors (2011) Best practice in systematic reviews: The importance of protocols and registration. PLoS Medicine 8(2): e1001009.10.1371/journal.pmed.1001009  to discover more on the importance of publishing a protocol.

Where to publish a protocol

The following list contains some common sites where protocols can be registered.  Many journals publish protocols, so check journals in your field of research. Often the guidelines or author instructions indicate what is required to publish a protocol within their journal.  

• Protocol exchange - Open repository of community contributed protocols sponsored by Nature Portfolio. Welcomes protocols from all areas of natural sciences. Once a Nature Portfolio article is accepted for publication, the authors are encouraged to upload their protocols to the Exchange or any other open protocol sharing platform of their choice. 
• PROSPERO - Contains over 2000 records of prospectively- registered systematic reviews. As the content grows the register provides an increasingly valuable resource for identifying on-going reviews to reduce unplanned duplication of reviews. 
• Open Science Framework - (OSF) is an open-source software project created by the Centre for Open Science to increase reproducibility in research. The OSF allows users to create project folders, pre-register study protocols, and store data and code files for public access. 
• Cochrane Library - Includes high-quality, independent evidence to inform healthcare decision-making. 
• Joanna Briggs Institute - Evidence- based resource for nursing, midwifery, dietetics, physiotherapy, podiatry, radiography. 
• BMC Journals - Protocols have been published in a range of BMC journals, including Systematic Reviews 
• Nature Protocols – is a journal from the Nature Portfolio Group. Nature Protocols publishes secondary research articles - predominantly Protocols (including Protocol Updates and Protocol Extensions), but also techniques-related Reviews, Perspectives, Correspondences, Matters Arising, Commentaries, and Consensus Statements - all of which are based on published primary research papers.