Towards an OSF-based Registered Report Template for Software Engineering Controlled Experiments

Context: The empirical software engineering community has advanced experimentation practices, yet controlled experiments are still reported with insufficient rigor, affecting transparency and reproducibility. Registered Reports (RRs), which preregister hypotheses, methods and analyses before data collection, have been proposed to mitigate issues such as p-hacking, publication bias and unplanned post hoc analyses. Objective: This paper presents early results toward an RR template for Software Engineering controlled experiments using the Open Science Framework. We examine how current OSF RR types align with SE experimentation guidelines and identify gaps to be addressed in a future comprehensive template. Method: We analyzed selected OSF RR types in relation to established documentation guidelines for controlled experiments. Results: One RR type showed substantial alignment with several guideline elements, but no OSF template provides complete coverage. We also identified limitations in OSF’s support for customizing RR structures. Conclusion: Although RRs offer a promising path to more rigorous and reproducible experimentation, existing OSF RR types do not fully meet SE requirements. Developing SE-specific RR guidelines is therefore essential.