v2026.1CASRAI Dictionary 1,610 entries across 24 domains · CC-BY 4.01,610 entries · CC-BY 4.0

Dictionary termTrack CStablev2026.2

Pre-analysis plan

A detailed, time-stamped document specifying the statistical models, variable transformations, exclusion criteria, and inference rules to be applied to a dataset, lodged before the analyst sees the outcome data.

ByCASRAI Editorial Board

· Last updated 21 May 2026

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Examples

Worked examples

Is an instance
An economics study lodging a 25-page PAP on AEA RCT Registry before the experiment's endline survey.
Is an instance
A political-science PAP filed with EGAP before access to administrative data.

Counter-examples

Looks similar, but isn't

Not an instance
A general protocol written after preliminary analyses.
Not an instance
A study description with no analytical specification.

Editorial commentary

Pre-analysis plans (PAPs) are particularly important in economics and political science, where datasets are often secondary or arrive in stages. They allow confirmatory analyses to be distinguished from exploratory ones in datasets where pre-registration of the full study design (as in clinical trials) is not feasible.

References

Olken, 'Promises and Perils of Pre-analysis Plans' (Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2015).

Also known as

PAP · analysis pre-registration

Machine-readable encodings

Use in your systems

JATS XML <role> element

xml

<role vocab="credit"
      vocab-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/"
      vocab-term="Pre-analysis plan"
      vocab-term-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/pre-analysis-plan" />

Schema.org DefinedTerm (JSON-LD)

json

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "DefinedTerm",
  "@id": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/pre-analysis-plan",
  "name": "Pre-analysis plan",
  "identifier": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/pre-analysis-plan",
  "description": "A detailed, time-stamped document specifying the statistical models, variable transformations, exclusion criteria, and inference rules to be applied to a dataset, lodged before the analyst sees the outcome data.",
  "inDefinedTermSet": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/domain/reproducibility#set",
  "url": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/pre-analysis-plan",
  "sameAs": [
    "PAP",
    "analysis pre-registration"
  ],
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "publisher": {
    "@id": "https://casrai.org/#organization"
  },
  "dateModified": "2026-05-21T02:22:49",
  "inLanguage": "en"
}

Referenced across the research world

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