Has transparency improved in clinical psychology? A repeated cross-sectional study (2012, 2018, 2024)

Transparency is an important scientific principle that is frequently neglected in practice. The credibility crisis in psychology has catalysed new infrastructure, policies, and community initiatives focused on increasing the adoption of transparent research practices. However, it is unclear to what extent transparency has improved in clinical psychology. We conducted a repeated cross-sectional study to estimate the prevalence of transparent research practices in random samples of clinical psychology articles published in 2012, 2018, and 2024 (N = 589 articles). Funding and conflicts of interest disclosure statements were relatively common. By contrast, preregistration, sharing of measurement instruments, data, and analysis scripts, and use of reporting guidelines only increased modestly and remained uncommon overall. Authors provided few justifications for the lack of transparency. Overall, transparency in clinical psychology has increased, but considerable scope remains for improvement. Continued action is needed to realise a scientific ecosystem where transparency is the norm rather than the exception.