The Registration Continuum in Personality Disorder Studies: Theory, Rationale, and Template

Registration is a tool to increase rigor of personality disorder research and its ability to reduce human suffering through improving people’s lives. This article details the problems that exist without registrations, which revolve around a study’s outcomes’ dependence on the data rather than on the theory being tested. Registrations exist on a continuum underpinned by bipolar timing and unipolar disclosure dimensions, the latter of which poses myriad points of decisions for researchers to register. The registration process provides memory aids and guideposts for researchers through the course of a study, transparently maintains public trust in the scientific enterprise, and preserves the severity of the tests used in the study. This articles provide a template for personality disorder researchers to consider and examples of how researchers can use registered flexibility to plan for contingencies that might arise during a study. It also addresses challenges in evaluating registrations and implementing registration in a research workflow.