Contents:
1. How do I reject a submission?
2. How do I reverse a rejection?
3. How do I return a submission?
4. I've reached my rejection limit - what should I do?
On Prolific, you have the option to reject participant submissions. However, please think carefully about whether the rejection is justified, and try to keep rejections to a minimum. Participants are penalized for rejections, and if they receive too many, they will be removed from the platform entirely. Please review all submissions holistically and remember that participants have spent time and effort taking your study.
How do I reject a submission?
1. To reject a participant’s submission, click the cross on the right-hand side of the study page
2. Then, select the reason the rejection is being made
3. We provide several common rejection reasons in the menu, or you can select 'Other' to enter your own reason with details. After selecting a reason, you'll see a pre-formatted message that will be sent to the participant
Note: There is no option to bulk reject submissions; each rejection must be made one at a time.
How do I reverse a rejection?
1. In the rejected submissions section, click the reverse arrow button to the far right of the submission
2. The submission will then revert to 'awaiting review'
3. Either approve the submission, or send the participant a message to let them know they can 'return' it
4. If you don't hear back from the participants, our Support team can assist you with returning submissions
💡 Please note:
• You'll only be able to reverse a rejection if you have enough funds in your account to approve the submission. If necessary, you can top-up with additional funds, then request a refund
• If you reverse a rejection after 21 days, the submission status returns to 'awaiting review.' The submission will then automatically approve within 24 hours, though you can approve it manually before then
• If you require the participant to return their submission after 21 days, please contact us using the button at the bottom of the article. Please make sure to include the participant ID and return reason in your query. This is to avoid the submission being automatically approved before the participant has had a chance to return it
How do I return a submission?
Participants are able to voluntarily return submissions and will often do so upon request if it's demonstrated that a mistake was made. Researchers can’t return submissions themselves.
To request a return from a participant's submission:
1. Click the blue and white arrow next to their submission
2. You’ll be asked to select a reason for requesting the return. This will trigger an automatic message to the participant asking them to return their submission
Note: This button will only be activated if your study status is 'active' or 'awaiting review'. It's not possible to use this button on 'paused' studies. Instead, you can message the participants directly and ask them to return their submission
The participant can return submissions from their 'Submissions page', by selecting the circular arrow to 'Return and cancel reward'
If you don’t hear back from the participant, you can contact the Support Team using the button at the bottom of this article. Please send across the relevant participant IDs, and contact us at least 2 working days before the 21-day auto-approval deadline
I've reached my rejection limit - what should I do?
All studies on Prolific have a limit on the number of submissions researchers can reject by default. This is because a rejection negatively impacts a participant's Prolific Score, which could prevent them from taking part in further studies on our platform.
We typically find that the automatic rejection limit is sufficient, but if you reach the maximum number of rejections for your study and require more, you’ll need to get in touch with the Support Team using the button at the bottom of this article to request a review of this limit.
It’s important to remember that we are a platform that serves both researchers and participants, so we’ll need to make sure that your rejection reasons are fair and in line with the above guidelines. Therefore, when you submit your request, we’ll ask for the following information:
- Name of study (including internal name, if relevant)
- Study questions, the related concerning responses, and the relevant participant IDs (any format is fine)
- Any additional information that might be useful to assist our review (e.g. context about your study). If you are submitting a rejection limit increase request due to failed attention check items, please include a screenshot of the attention check(s) in question.
Please note, we won't be able to increase your rejection limit until we have this information. By providing this, you are helping us to make sure everything is fair for everyone on Prolific!
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