Once you’ve joined a study, there are a few things you should do for a successful submission.
Read the study requirements & consent form
Read the Study description and make sure you’re able to complete the study. Read the consent form, what device you should be using and check if there’s any additional equipment you’ll need to use such as headphones, microphone, video camera.
If you agree and have the necessary equipment, click that you agree to start the task.
Input your Participant ID
When asked, input your Participant ID. You’ll find this in a couple of places:
- At the start of every study, it's displayed along with your Prolific email.
- On your Account page titled Your Prolific ID.
A researcher will use your ID to match you with your answers. This is all anonymous, but makes sure your data is linked so they can review it properly.
In some instances, you will not be directly asked for your Participant ID. Some studies will automatically pass your unique Prolific ID through to us when you begin the study, so please don't worry if you aren't asked for this at any point in the study.
If you have any concerns, once you have completed the study, please go to Your Submissions. You should see your submission "awaiting approval". This means your submission was successful and will be reviewed by the researcher within 22 days.
Share your Prolific email
Researchers will sometimes ask you for your Prolific email. This is an internal email which researchers can use to send you messages and invite you to follow-up studies. The format is yourparticipantid@prolific.co
Please don't share your personal email with researchers. This de-anonymises you and counts as Personally Identifying Information (PII). You can read more on PII in this article: Telling us 'About You'.
Input a completion code
A completion code is given by a researcher at the end of the study. It’s your job to enter the code into Prolific to confirm you’ve taken the study.
The study may also be designed to register your submission automatically as complete upon finishing the study, and you will be directed back to the Prolific website.
If there was a problem with the completion code or URL for your study, this should not cause a problem that prevents you from getting paid as long as you've made a valid submission.
What if I haven't received a completion code?
Please follow these steps:
- If you have not yet completed the submission by clicking "Complete" or "I didn't receive a completion code", then please do this first
- Next check the status of your submission, it should read "Awaiting Review"
- You may want to contact the researcher to let them know there was a problem and that they may need to review your submission
- You can edit completion codes by going to 'Submissions', clicking on the completion code and updating it
If you do the above and still do not see the study you just completed in your submissions, please contact the support team via the link below.
In some cases you can enter a NOCODE. Read more on this here: Submitting NOCODE