Preînregistrarea

Preînregistrarea is the act of registering something before it officially begins or becomes active. The term, Romanian in origin, is used across fields to secure participation, allocate resources, or document plans in advance. It is commonly applied in research, healthcare, events, and intellectual property to ensure orderly execution and to preserve records of commitments made before a process starts.

In scientific research, pre-registration involves publicly documenting a study protocol, hypotheses, methods, and planned analyses before data collection begins. This practice aims to increase transparency, reduce biases such as p-hacking and HARKing, and improve reproducibility. Registries like the Open Science Framework (OSF) or clinical trial registries provide time-stamped records, and some preregistration agreements include locked analysis plans.

In events and service delivery, pre-registration helps manage demand and organize logistics. Participants may sign up ahead of time to reserve slots for conferences, clinics, or vaccination programs. Pre-registration can also apply to user registrations for software releases or limited-product launches to gauge interest and secure access for early adopters.

In intellectual property contexts, pre-registration may refer to filing rights for trademarks, brand names, or domain names to prevent others from using similar identifiers before a launch. In civic processes, pre-registration can denote enrolling to vote or eligibility checks before an election period.

Effective pre-registration typically requires specifying objectives, criteria, timeframes, data handling, privacy safeguards, and what aspects may be shared publicly versus kept confidential. It is important to follow applicable laws and platform rules, and to maintain a record of changes and approvals for accountability. Related terms include preregistration, open science, and preregistry registries.