Theory & Hypotheses (psci-theory-and-hypotheses)

Psychological Science rewards a clear theoretical claim and honest hypothesis status. Because preregistration quality is weighed and a Research Transparency Statement is required, the cardinal rule is: state theory and confirmatory hypotheses before the data, and label exploratory results as exploratory.

When to trigger

• Writing the theoretical framing and hypotheses
• Preparing a preregistration / pre-analysis plan (Registered Report or OSF)
• Reconciling what you predicted with what you found
• A reviewer flagged the work as "post hoc," "atheoretical," or "HARKed"

Build the argument