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Introduction

This module describes what is a pre-analysis plan (PAP) and why you should use one. We emphasize the potential political uses of PAPs and, in particular, how the PAP is in this respect a uniquely powerful tool for increasing the likelihood that evidence informs policymaking.

What is a Pre-Analysis Plan?

A pre-analysis plan (PAP) is a document describing how a research project will be conducted, written before data is collected or analyzed. There is an emphasis on explaining what questions will be asked and how data will be collected and analyzed to answer those questions. The "registration" of a PAP involves publishing the document, with a timestamp, into a public location where it cannot be further edited. A registered PAP is therefore a transparent record of what a researcher believed before conducting a study and how the researcher intended to update their beliefs with data.

There is substantial variation in how PAPs are written. There may be dozens of pages. Maybe only one page or even a few sentences. The description may (or may not) include literature reviews, hypotheses statements, equations, mock figures and tables, code, data simulations. People have offered templates, checklists, and guidelines in an attempt to standardize—or at least set minimal standards for—the content and level of detail within a PAP. But ultimately the researcher must use judgment to decide how much detail to include in a PAP, given the context and aims of the study.