as value range and validity checks), prompt the data that does not conform to the regulation when the system input and strict data cleaning; Biased errors: mainly by checking the continuity of data collection, checking the registered information with the ID and conducting on-site inspections randomly. Data cleaning and screening Cleaning Principles: keeping the original data permanently to guarantee traceability, keeping the original case information unchanged, data were transformed, split, extracted and merged, etc. Specifically, the standardization of the special acupoints, such as ‘Huatuo jiaji’ will be standardized as ‘Waist jiaji point’, ‘Ashi’ was standardized as ‘Ashi point’. Authority management To ensure the security and privacy of study data, different access rights will be set for users in the platform. Permissions access mainly contains the operation level and data level, according to different users demands and role in the program. According to the permit classifications, platform will accomplish the access control of operational level and data level. Administrators can check, lock, initialize passwords, set permissions, templates and other basic functions of doctors. Data security and patient privacy protection Data access shall be strictly controlled, and qualification examination shall be carried out for those who log on to the Registry platform. Only researchers and quality inspectors participating in the program have access to the personal medical records of subjects. Clinical registered doctors are only allowed to access their own patients. Sensitive information of patients such as name, ID number and contact information is processed by encryption technology. In data transmission, SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is used for encryption, and switched virtual network system is used for client access. Encrypted storage of sensitive information of registered doctors and patients, the data should be backed up regularly every week. The completed case information should be archived and stored locally, limiting access rights. The access of storage server also adopts strict authorization mechanism. Each user occupies a unique account in the system and grants different permissions to different researchers. Dissemination policy The research data will be published in the form of a paper after the summary analysis. Different research centers can use the data collected by their own centers to publish, but must pass the review of the research team. Discussion Some registry studies or programs related to low back pain have been established worldwide, such as Quebec registration [46], BOLD registry [25], PRECISION registry [47], etc. Nevertheless, no registration specifically for acupuncture therapy details of CLBP. Unlike previous studies were designed to explain the efficacy of acupuncture. We plan to explore the characteristics of acupuncture implementation and conditions related to more acupuncture benefit for CLBP. Depending on standardized, structured and high-fidelity data collection, we will have a more comprehensive understanding of acupuncture treatment. Through comparisons of different acupuncture stimulation parameters, we will explore the best acupuncture treatment programs for different states and subtypes of CLBP. Considering maneuverability and convenience of registration implementation, we have carefully considered research design. Logic verification of structured data acquisition and variable input ensures the correctness and completeness of the data. The relatively short follow-up period and convenient data entry process will reduce the data entry burden of clinical acupuncturists and ensure smooth operation. What’s more, the STRICTA rules and TCM syndrome standard entries are adopted to ensure data integrity and standardization. Wei et al. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders (2019) 20:488 Page 7 of 10 NRS and ODI scale can be completed in 5 min, the respondent burden is low [35]. Beyond that, ODI and NRS have been widely used in researches [13, 36, 48, 49] for CLBP because of robust psychometric information [35, 50]. We originally intended to cover patients of all ages in the patient group, but considering the actual situation of acupuncture recruitment and the response-ability of the scale, we excluded patients older than 80 years and younger than 16 years. Although many studies have used psychosocial-related scales like Perceived self-efficacy [51], Fear-avoidance beliefs [52], Depression Anxiety Stress Scale [53, 54] as indicators or influencing factors for the evaluation of chronic low back pain [43]. We do not adopt these indicators based on some practical considerations. A study has shown that scales supporting acupuncture practice should be considered more often by the acupuncturists to evaluate acupuncture in CLBP [45]. Tedious items and questionnaires of these scales may increase patient resistance and interfere with our judgment on the effectiveness of treatment. Besides, we believe that the psychological factors themselves are embedded in the communication between the acupuncturist and the patients during the acupuncture process. Therefore, the assessment based on the details of the implementation itself also includes the evaluation of psychological related factors. Most importantly, the psychological state and the pain experience itself are difficult to peel off [51, 55]. Thence, psychological