v2026.1CASRAI Dictionary 714 entries across 20 domains · CC-BY 4.0714 entries · CC-BY 4.0

Dictionary termTrack AStablev2026.2

Protocol paper

A peer-reviewed publication that fully describes the methodology of a planned or ongoing research study (clinical trial, systematic review, cohort study, laboratory protocol) prior to or alongside execution, sufficient to enable replication and to fix the methods against post-hoc revision.

ByCASRAI Editorial Board

· Last updated 21 May 2026

Examples

Worked examples

Is an instance
A published PRISMA-P systematic-review protocol registered in PROSPERO before searches began

Counter-examples

Looks similar, but isn't

Not an instance
A methods section of a results paper is not a protocol paper (it is a section of a different publication type)

Editorial commentary

Protocol papers include systematic-review protocols (PRISMA-P), clinical-trial protocols (SPIRIT), and laboratory protocols (Nature Protocols). They serve registration, transparency, and reuse functions. Distinct from a Stage 1 registered-report protocol by not necessarily linking to a guaranteed Stage 2 publication.

References

PRISMA-P (Moher et al. 2015 BMJ)
SPIRIT 2013 Statement (Chan et al. Annals)
Nature Protocols submission guidelines

Also known as

Study protocol publication · Method protocol paper

Machine-readable encodings

Use in your systems

JATS XML <role> element

xml

<role vocab="credit"
      vocab-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/"
      vocab-term="Protocol paper"
      vocab-term-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/protocol-paper" />

Schema.org DefinedTerm (JSON-LD)

json

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "DefinedTerm",
  "name": "Protocol paper",
  "identifier": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/protocol-paper",
  "description": "A peer-reviewed publication that fully describes the methodology of a planned or ongoing research study (clinical trial, systematic review, cohort study, laboratory protocol) prior to or alongside execution, sufficient to enable replication and to fix the methods against post-hoc revision.",
  "inDefinedTermSet": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/domain/research-outputs-expanded/",
  "url": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/protocol-paper",
  "sameAs": [
    "Study protocol publication",
    "Method protocol paper"
  ],
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
}

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