Action Tags

Action tags are special terms that begin with the '@' sign that can be placed inside a field's Field Annotation when adding or editing a field. Each action tag has a corresponding action that is performed for the field when displayed on data entry forms and survey pages.

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Alerts and Notifications

The Alerts & Notifications feature allows you to construct alerts and send customized notifications. These notifications may be sent to one or more recipients and can be triggered or scheduled when a form/survey is saved and/or based on conditional logic whenever data is saved or imported.

These are ideal for sending emails to internal users since the email address is customizable to include participants as well as research staff. By default, these are not tied directly to a particular instrument, so Smart Variables will need to be added to the email body if the purpose is to continue to collect survey data.

Auto-continue to the next survey

Automatically start the next survey instrument after finishing this survey. Linking surveys together is only supported inside the same event and must be enabled for each survey you wish to link. This feature allows you to have separate survey instruments strung together to appear as though they were a single survey to the survey participant. This is especially useful for complex longitudinal projects where different combinations of instruments are given in separate events. If enabled and this is the last survey, the selected termination option below will be used. NOTE: If you wish to utilize more advanced conditional logic to control which survey that the participant goes to next, you should use the Survey Queue feature, which can be enabled in the Online Designer.
(Optional) Conditional logic for Survey Auto-Continue: Auto-continue to the next survey ONLY if the conditional logic below is TRUE or if the textbox has been left blank.

Automated Survey Invitations (ASIs)

Automated survey invitations may be understood as a way to have invitations sent to your survey participants, but rather than sending or scheduling them manually via the Participant List, the invitations can be scheduled to be sent automatically (i.e. without a person sending the invitation) based upon specific conditions, such as if the participant completes another survey in your project or if certain data values for a record are fulfilled.

These are ideal for sending emails to external users (e.g. participants) since the email address associated with that record will be used as the destination address. By default, the unique survey link and URL that is associated with that instrument (at the designated event/arm, if longitudinal) for that record is included in the email body template.

Data value

Number(s) or character(s) that represent the displayed options of a field. When considering multiple choice or checkbox field types, the data value precedes the data value and they are separated by a comma.

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Most statistical analysis packages utilize the data value rather than the data label for analyses. The data values are not shown on forms or surveys, but are one of the key elements of the project’s data table.

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Data label

The item response options that are displayed on the form/survey. This is considered and stored as metadata and is not stored as a key element of the project’s data table.

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Field

A single point of data; also considered a variable, item, question, or prompt.

Field embedding

Field embedding is the ultimate way to customize your surveys and data collection instruments to make them look exactly how you want. Field Embedding allows you to reposition field elements on a survey page or data entry form so that they get embedded in a new location on that same page. Embedding fields gives you greater control over the look and feel of your instrument.

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Field label

The description of the field that provides detail on what the field represents. Considering surveys, this would be the question that prompts the participant to respond to a set of choices.

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Form

A form can be considered an instrument that has been implemented for internal (i.e. REDCap) users to enter data. Lab values, tracking information, data management fields, or data collected as part of an interview are examples of forms.

Form Display Logic

Form Display Logic is an advanced feature that provides a way to use conditional logic to disable specific data entry forms that are displayed on the Record Status Dashboard, Record Home Page, or the form list on the left-hand menu. You might think of it as 'form-level branching logic'. Form Display Logic can be very useful if you wish to prevent users from entering data on a specific form or event until certain conditions have been met. The forms will still be displayed on the page, but they will be disabled in order to prevent users from accessing them. Below you may define as many conditions as you want. A form may be selected in multiple conditions, but if so, please note that the form will be enabled if at least one of the conditions is met. The Form Display Logic does not impact data imports but only operates in the data entry user interface to enable/disable forms. Additionally, Form Display Logic is not utilized by the Survey Queue at all but can affect the behavior of the Survey Auto-Continue feature if the checkbox for it is enabled below. LIMITATION: Please note that the conditional logic used below will be evaluated at the record level and not within the context of an event or a repeating instance, which means that it is not possible to use relative instance or relative event Smart Variables - i.e., those with the name 'current', 'next', or 'previous', such as [next-instance] or [previous-event-name].
Optional Settings:

• Keep forms enabled if they contain data

  • Only disable empty forms (those with a gray form status icon).

• Hide forms that are disabled

  • All forms that are disabled will also be hidden (not visible) on the Data Collection menu and on the Record Home Page.

• Enable support for Survey Auto-Continue

  • When collecting data via survey, any currently hidden forms will be skipped over when the "Auto-continue to next survey" option is being used.

Instrument

A (data collection) instrument is grouping of data collection fields. Instruments can be implemented as either a form or a survey and utilized as both throughout a project. If implemented as a survey, they can be sent to external users (e.g. participants, clients). For longitudinal designs, instruments can be copied (creating a wide data set) or designated for multiple events/arms (creating a long data set). Instruments can be created and/or edited using the Online Designer, Data Dictionary, or REDCap Instrument Library.

Mobile App

The REDCap Mobile App is an app that can be installed on an Android or iOS tablet or mobile device so that data may then be collected in an offline fashion on that device. At some point later on, it may then be synced back to this project on the REDCap server. The app is most useful when data collection will be performed where there is no Internet service (e.g., no WiFi or cellular service) or where there is unreliable Internet service. The mobile app was designed to be researcher-facing. Therefore, survey settings, such as themes, and some action tags, are not supported in the Mobile App. While it can be administered directly to participants by handing them the device for data entry, this is a security risk (e.g. potential for device being stolen) and is not recommended.

MyCap

MyCap is a participant-facing mobile application (on iOS and Android) used for data collection and the automated administration of active tasks (activities performed by participants using mobile device sensors under semi-controlled conditions). All data collected in the MyCap app are automatically sent back to the REDCap server as soon as internet connection is available (i.e., it can also be used for offline participant data collection).
MyCap is a no-code solution for research teams conducting longitudinally-designed projects or projects with frequent participant contact. MyCap also facilitates participant engagement and retention by providing quick access to project staff and two-way communications (e.g., messaging and announcements) within the app. MyCap is available on any iOS device (iOS v11.0+) and any Android device (Android v8.0+).

Piping

The 'Piping' feature in REDCap allows you to inject previously collected data into text on a data collection form or survey, thus providing greater precision and control over question wording. It can also be used in other ways, such as for customizing survey invitations (e.g., by including the respondent's name in the email) or survey completion text (e.g., thanking your respondent by name after completing a survey).

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Smart Variables

Smart Variables allow you to reference information other than data fields. Smart Variables are context-aware and thus adapt to many different situations in which they can know who the current user is, what event is currently being viewed, whether or not an instrument is being viewed as a survey or data entry form, etc. In this way, Smart Variables are dynamic (and thus 'smart') because they adapt to the current context in which they are used. Smart Variables are easily distinguishable from field names because Smart Variables will have dashes and colons whereas field variable names cannot.

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Survey

A survey can be considered an instrument that has been implemented for external users to enter data directly. Surveys can be sent manually or automatically and individually or in a batch process. A Consent Form should be considered a survey since participants are expected to enter their own information, regardless if the participant is completing this in-person or remotely.

Survey sequence

The order in which a set of surveys is implemented. A survey sequence is most easily established by using the Auto-continue feature under Survey Termination Options within the Survey Settings of the instrument.

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This feature can also be called a survey queue and can be implemented in the project’s Survey Queue module. The Auto-continue feature can conflict with the Survey Queue module yielding unexpected results. The Form Display Logic can also be impacted by the Auto-continue feature and Survey Queue module.

Survey Settings

A module, available when an instrument is enabled as a survey, that allows users with ‘Project Design and Setup’ rights to edit the survey's basic information. This includes, but is not limited to, the ability to add/edit:

1. Instructions

2. Design and Theme, such as a logo or colors

3. Pagination

4. ‘Submit’ button

5. Email field (for this instrument only)

6. Access restrictions

7. Termination options

8. E-consent framework

9. Completion emails

Survey Queue

The survey queue displays a list of the surveys in your project, functioning as a “To-Do” list for your survey participants. Surveys can become available when another survey is complete, when specific logic is met, or both. You can also enable the “Auto start” option. This means the survey will launch as soon as the previous one is completed, creating a seamless survey experience for the participant similar to the “Auto-continue” option in the Survey Settings.

Please note that the Survey Queue module and the Auto-continue in the Survey Settings cannot be used for the same survey; the Auto-continue option will always take precedence over survey queue logic and may result in surveys being launched even though the survey queue logic says they should not be.

This feature is useful when needing to link surveys that are designated for different events. Because the Survey Queue module considers events, the basic linking of surveys within a single event should be done with the Auto-continue feature, for simplicity.

The Survey Queue as defined in REDCap is as follows: The Survey Queue displays a list of your surveys to a participant all on a single page, in which the queue comprises all surveys that are to be completed (like a 'to-do' list) as well as the surveys that the participant has already completed. Surveys can be set to appear in the Survey Queue based upon 1) if the participant has completed a particular survey, and/or 2) if certain conditions are met (based upon data values). If any surveys have been activated in the Survey Queue, they will be displayed to the participant after completing a survey (displayed below the survey completion text on the page). The participant will only see in their queue the surveys they have already completed and the surveys that they are being requested to take next (based upon the criteria defined below). The setup options below allow you to set the conditions that determine when each survey will be displayed in the queue, and (optionally) you can provide custom text to display at the top of every participant's survey queue, in which you may customize the styling of the text with HTML tags or even utilize Piping to inject data values. Additionally, the 'auto start' feature is optional and can be used to take the participant immediately to the first incomplete survey in the queue if 'auto start' is enabled for that survey, in which it allows for more rapid survey-taking if the participant is completing several surveys in one sitting. LIMITATION: Please note that the conditional logic used below will be evaluated at the record level and not within the context of an event or a repeating instance, which means that it is not possible to use relative instance or relative event Smart Variables - i.e., those with the name 'current', 'next', or 'previous', such as [next-instance] or [previous-event-name].

User rights

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User rights define the level of access users have within a project. The User Rights module allows for granting users access to the project and for managing the user privileges of those users. You may also create roles to which you may assign users (optional). User roles are useful when you will have several users with the same privileges because they allow you to easily add many users to a role in a much faster manner than setting their user privileges individually. Roles are also a nice way to categorize users within a project. In the box below you may add/assign users or create new roles, and the table at the bottom allows you to make modifications to any existing user or role in the project, as well as view a glimpse of their user privileges.

The Applications Overview video within the Training Videos tab provides instructions.

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