Overview
Once a participant has completed your study, it is up to you, as the researcher, to review their data and decide whether that participant should be approved and paid, rejected and penalised, or returned.
See the Submission approval rules and timeframes article for further details on when you should pay a participant and auto-approvals.
Additionally, submissions completed in less than half of the estimated study time are flagged for manual review instead of being automatically approved. Researchers are responsible for reviewing these flagged submissions to determine whether they should be approved.
What are Prolific’s approval, rejection, and return guidelines?
At Prolific, we have specific criteria for handling participant submissions and guidelines for approving, returning, or rejecting submissions.
When should I approve a submission?
Participants should be approved and paid if they have completed your study and provided data, unless they meet specific rejection criteria.
See How do I pay participants? for guidance on how to approve and pay submissions.
When should I reject a submission?
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.
See How do I reject or return a submission? for guidance on how to reject a submission or request a return.
When should I ask a participant to return a submission?
When a submission is returned, that spot opens back up in your study so that another participant can take part and you don't miss out on getting all the data you need.
You may request that a participant return their submission if:
They only completed part of your study (and didn't finish it)
They encountered technical problems (in which case, please consider awarding partial payments)
They withdrew their consent (in which case, please also delete any data that you have from that participant in your external software)
They didn't match your specified prescreening criteria
They failed fair comprehension checks twice
They didn't complete all parts of a longitudinal / multi-part study (in which case, please consider awarding partial payments for the parts they completed)
They didn't attend a scheduled interview
Participants might return a submission themselves due to technical problems with the study interface or any related issues.
Participants who withdraw their consent during the study will also return their submission, and their data must be deleted accordingly.
See How do I reject or return a submission? for guidance on how to request a return.
Understanding participant behavior, such as returning submissions and the reasons behind them, can help in handling these situations effectively.
Note: If you've requested a return and the participant has not done so, and you have a valid reason for requesting the return, please reach out to our Support Team with the study name or study ID, and the list of Prolific IDs you wish to return, along with the reason you are requesting a return.
Helpful resources
1. Submission statuses explained
2. Submission approval rules and timeframes
3. How do I approve and pay a participant?
4. Who should I reject?
5. How do I reject or return a submission?