SIPS 2026 Online

Pilot studies, typically conducted to refine methods and procedures ahead of planned data collection, are common in psychological research, but little guidance exists on how to report such studies in publications. Therefore, we designed a study that aims to examine whether 1) pilot studies are reported in published psychology literature and 2) how they are reported when mentioned. To answer these questions, we conduct a retrospective, observational assessment of recent articles in psychology journals. In the current presentation, we will present and discuss the study methodology and preliminary findings from two pilot studies where we sampled and coded over 300 articles published in 2022 and 2023. We report the main descriptive findings (e.g., proportion of pilots mentioned and related details such as pilot sample size, purpose, or results) alongside qualitative observations on how pilot studies were reported.