Data and Code for: Do Pre-analysis Plans Hamper Publication?

We examine publication outcomes of NBER working papers with and without pre-analysis plans to examine whether the existence of a pre-analysis plan hampers publication and downstream citations. We find that papers with pre-analysis plans are slightly less likely to be published but, conditional on being published, more likely to land in top-five journals and more likely to be cited. Our findings suggest that the alleged trade-off between career concerns and the scientific credibility that comes from pre-registering and adhering to a pre-analysis plan may be less stark than is sometimes alleged and may even tilt in favor of preregistration for researchers most concerned about publishing in the most prestigious journals and maximizing citations to their work.