Note: pre-study checks are rolling out to a limited number of workspaces while we refine the feature. If you can't see it yet, don't worry, it's coming soon.
Pre-study checks let you confirm that participants are attentive and honest before they take part in your study. This article explains what the checks are, how to add them, what participants see, and how to read your results.
What are pre-study checks
Pre-study checks are an optional step in study setup. Before participants enter your study, they answer a few short questions. Participants who pass continue to your study. Participants who don’t pass are stopped before they start. You don’t pay them, and their responses never reach your results.
Attention and honesty checks test participants’ attentiveness, honesty, comprehension, and reliability (consistency).
These checks add one minute to your study. This time counts toward the reward you set for participants. You can also add your own attention or comprehension questions inside your study. These are separate from pre-study checks.
Why add pre-study checks to your study
Rushed and careless answers lower the quality of your data. Pre-study checks filter them out before participants reach your study, so you only collect responses from people who read carefully and answer honestly.
Consider adding them when your study:
Relies on careful reading or detailed instructions
Needs consistent, trustworthy answers
Asks participants to complete a task that takes focus
How to add pre-study checks
Go to the Pre-study checks section in the Study setup page
Select the checkbox to enable attention and honesty checks
Review the time the check adds to your study
Set your reward and check your hourly rate
Publish your study
We add the check time to your total study length automatically. In the reward section, you’ll see the check listed under additional time, with a total that includes pre-study checks. To remove the check before you publish, select the trash icon next to it. Your participant cost updates straight away.
Here’s an example. Your study takes five minutes, and the check adds one more. At a reward of £0.90, your hourly rate is £9.00 for the full six minutes. You pay participants who complete the check and your study for all of that time, via Prolific.
Things to know before you publish
You can’t edit or remove checks after you publish your study, so review your selection first. Participants who fail the check don’t count toward your participant places, and you don’t pay them.
What participants see
Participants complete the check before they start your study. It takes about one minute. Participants who pass continue to your study. Participants who don’t pass can’t access or complete it.
Review your pre-study check results
Open the pre-study checks tab on your study page, next to Submissions and Feedback. This dashboard shows how many participants passed, how many we stopped, and why.
The top of the dashboard shows four numbers:
Participants screened: everyone who took the check
Passed all checks: the number and percentage who continued to your study
Stopped from accessing study: the number and percentage who failed
Saved by pre-study checks: the reward you didn’t pay to stopped participants
We calculate the amount saved by multiplying the number of stopped participants by your reward per submission. In the example above, seven stopped participants × £2.00 equals £14.00.
Why participants were stopped
The dashboard also shows what failing looked like. Each row shows how many participants failed for that reason, and what percentage of screened participants that represents:
Honesty: Gave an answer that can’t be true of a real person
Comprehension: Got a one-step reasoning question wrong, or wrote a nonsense answer
Attention: Picked a different option from the one the question told them to pick
A participant can appear in more than one row, so the rows may add up to more than the total number stopped.
FAQs
Can I use pre-study checks and my own attention checks together?
Yes, they work well side by side. Pre-study checks run before your study starts, and your own checks run inside it. Together, they give you quality control at both stages.
Do pre-study checks detect AI use?
No. Pre-study checks test attention and honesty before your study starts. To flag responses that may come from an LLM (large language model) or a bot, use authenticity checks. They run during your study and flag suspicious behavior for you to review.
Do participants who fail count toward my participant places?
No, they don’t. Participants who fail the check don’t use up any of your places, and you don’t pay them. Your places stay available for participants who pass.
Can I add or remove checks after I publish?
Not after you publish, so it’s worth a quick review of your selection first. If you’re not sure whether you want the check, you can add or remove it any time before you publish, and your participant cost updates straight away.
How do I write about these checks in my research?
Use our templates here: Writing about Prolific in Your Research to describe your checks and report your results in journal manuscripts, ethics applications, and consent forms.