Register Your Project – OSF Guides

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A registration is a frozen, time-stamped copy of an OSF project. Registrations cannot be edited or deleted. You might create a registration to capture a snapshot of your project at certain points in the research cycle - such as right before data collection begins, when you submit a manuscript for peer review, or upon completion of a project.

All registrations will be made public eventually. You can choose to make the registration public immediately or embargoed for up to 4 years. Registrations cannot be deleted, but they can be withdrawn. Learn more about registration withdrawals by following our help guide: Withdrawing a registration.

Create a registration
Choose a registration form
Enter registration metadata
Fill out the registration form
Preview
Select components to be included in the registration
Choose your privacy settings
Approve or cancel your registration

1. Create a registration

Open the project that you want to register, then click the Registrations tab in the navigation bar.

The "Registrations" page will appear.

Click the New registration button.

2. Choose a registration form

Next, select the registration form that you want to use. Hover over the i icon to read a description of each form. See the Registration Forms help guide to learn more.

Then, click the Create draft button.

3. Enter registration metadata

Each form will ask you to enter basic metadata (Title, Description, etc.) about your data and research.

This metadata only applies to the registration you are creating and will not be applied to your project.

The form autosaves every few seconds when updates are made. You can exit the form and return to the draft at any time.

4. Fill out the registration form

Each form will ask you to enter information about your data and research.

Click the Review button when you're ready to register. If the registration form is more than 1-page long, this button will be at the top right of the last page.

5. Review

Review your registration form. Click the Back button to make further changes.

Click the Register button when you're ready to register.

6. Select components to be included in the registration

If your project includes components, you can select components to include or exclude from the registration. As all registrations become public eventually, this is an opportunity to deselect any components containing sensitive information that must be kept private. Deselecting the component from the registration ensures that the content can remain private.

If your project includes components, choose the components you want to include in the registration. All components will be selected by default.

Then click Continue.

7. Choose your privacy settings

Before you submit your registration, a final modal will appear that allows you to choose your privacy settings.

Choose to either make your registration public immediately or embargoed for up to 4 years.

If you choose to make your registration public immediately, you can also choose to create a DOI.

If entering into an embargo, the "Embargo End Date" field will appear.

Click inside the "Embargo End Date" field, then select the date when you want to end the embargo from the calendar.

When you're ready to finalize your registration, click the Submit button.

The registration will be in a "pending" state until all admins approve the registration or 48 hours pass (whichever comes first).

8. Approve or cancel your registration

When a project is registered, all administrators on the project are notified via email and given the chance to approve or cancel the registration.

The registration goes into effect

either when all administrators have approved the registration
or when 48 hours have passed (whichever comes first)

If one administrator disapproves the registration, the registration is cancelled. You will be notified via email if an administrator disapproves the registration.