Preregistration: when shall we start the real discussion?

tion studies, in the past 2 years guidance for drafting research protocols have been published (PRISMA-P and SPIRIT checklist, respectively), along with dedicated websites (http://www.crd.york. ac.uk/PROSPERO/ and http://www.clinicaltrials.gov, respectively). Though the endorsement by scientists of such guidance checklists is impressive, no one guidance for observational epidemiologic study protocols has been developed so far. Though I acknowledge all the cons that have been raised and partly discussed in the reply of Jan P Vandenbroucke, I strongly believe that in the long run the advantages for the scientific community of pre-registration of study protocols will outweigh any potential disadvantage. In the meanwhile, coordinated efforts towards a funding system systems that truly award scientific research based on grounded epidemiological methods, on transparency, and on shared materials, and education efforts focused on journal editors, would contribute in the direction of improving the quality of scientific research.