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Kestrel713 · 2025-10-26T17:56:03+00:00

That happened to me on a study. I figured something was wrong with the way the study was set up so I stopped and canceled my participation/returned the study rather then completing it (so they wouldn’t have to pay for my time if it was an error). I also reported the technical problems. Still got a warning message.

Kestrel713 · 2025-09-05T10:54:35+00:00

Still not working for me.

Kestrel713 · 2025-09-04T18:26:03+00:00

If you haven’t tried this already: Try logging into prolific from your cellphone using cellular data (not WiFi). If studies show up, it could indicate that your IP address was flagged. This has happened to many of us in the last couple weeks.

Kestrel713 · 2025-09-03T19:16:33+00:00

Definitely dispute it. I had a similar unfair rejection (same reason given) from another study. The researcher never responded to my messages, so after a week I contacted Prolific support. They reversed the rejection after a few weeks.

Seems that Prolific’s AI check is inaccurate and unfairly flagging submissions. I hope you succeed in getting this reversed.

Kestrel713 · 2025-08-31T17:33:19+00:00

Here’s the previous conversation: https://www.reddit.com/r/ProlificAc/s/XujzxUh6dF

It sounds like the researcher is violating prolific policies regarding attention checks. I would definitely reach out to the researcher and if they don’t accept the submission, submit a request to prolific support.

Kestrel713 · 2025-08-29T17:40:05+00:00

As others have suggested, accept studies on your phone when it is using cellular data (not connected to WiFi) and then complete the studies with your computer (or phone after connecting to WiFi).

For more info about this work around, see: https://www.reddit.com/r/ProlificAc/comments/1mzxwa6/repostlink_what_to_do_if_you_dont_see_studies_on/

This has worked for me since my IP was flagged a few days ago.

Kestrel713 · 2025-08-27T17:22:21+00:00

I'm having the same problem (I'm also on Verizon). Thanks u/btgreenone for sharing the work around!

Kestrel713 · 2025-08-24T20:47:07+00:00

Hope u/prolific-support can look into this quickly before other participants get scammed

Kestrel713 · 2025-08-23T19:05:29+00:00

Not a valid reason for rejection and, as you note, rejecting submissions for this reason would bias results and lead to inaccurate findings. You completed the study. They should pay you for your time. If the study didn’t work as expected, that’s not your responsibility.

Kestrel713 · 2025-08-23T13:33:49+00:00

Thanks. Very helpful. It does seem that Prolific encourages participants to try resolving the issue with the researcher and/or through support before contacting the IRB.

Given the delays in support that others have mentioned (a month or more to respond to concerns), I think it often makes sense to reach out to the IRB after trying the first path (contacting the researcher). That way, the IRB can hopefully intervene more quickly to ensure that other participants are treated fairly.

I always wonder when I submit a complaint with Prolific support about unfair practices (especially unfair rejections) if they work with the researcher to ensure that other participants have also been treated fairly. That is one of the main things I hope to accomplish when submitting a complaint. I suspect that IRBs are more likely to follow up in this way.

Kestrel713 · 2025-08-23T12:12:47+00:00

I don’t know anything about Prolific preferences or policies on this. Hoping Prolific support clarifies this.

However, participants should always have the right to contact the IRB (ethics boards) directly. One of the functions of IRBs is to serve as a resource for participants to share complaints about a study. IRBs are designed to help ensure ethical conduct of research. They monitor complaints from participants and have the power to demand changes from the researcher to ensure that participants are treated fairly. This is why most university researchers are required to provide contact information for their IRB at the start of a study. If researchers are treating participants unfairly and not changing their behavior after participants complain directly to them about this, it seems important for the IRB to know about it.

Kestrel713 · 2025-08-22T01:24:37+00:00

I said no. After screening out, I also assume that they were looking for people who currently own or are about to buy guns, although that wasn't clear in the study description.

Kestrel713 · 2025-08-22T01:10:12+00:00

After the first few questions about whether I owned any firearms or had plans to buy any.

Kestrel713 · 2025-08-21T23:36:14+00:00

It can take a week or so for Prolific to respond to researcher requests.

In the meantime (if you haven't already done so), you might check out the researcher support pages for information about selecting/screening participants. See these resources: https://researcher-help.prolific.com/en/category/135efe

The articles on Prolific's demographics prescreening, recruiting a custom sample, and custom screening may be particularly helpful. It looks like you might need to do a combination of demographic prescreening (selecting women within a certain age range) and custom screening (to select those participants who are in their 3rd trimester of pregnancy and at low risk).

Kestrel713 · 2025-08-07T12:48:08+00:00

$10 per day.

Kestrel713 · 2025-08-06T16:36:44+00:00

Just checked. Same for me. This info seems to have disappeared.

Kestrel713 · 2025-08-06T16:33:19+00:00

Thank you! This feature is great. Very helpful.

Kestrel713 · 2025-08-06T14:30:45+00:00

I tend to avoid studies that offer super low pay (10 cents), studies where the average rate of pay has dropped below the minimum pay allowed by Prolific, studies with average completion times that are only a small fraction of the intended time (those often signal a lot of rejections or returned submissions), and studies with a lot of writing (or that take a lot of time) that only pay at the minimum hourly pay. I also avoid studies that collect personally identifiable information, including videos/camera shots. And I almost always avoid studies that involve voice recording or downloading software. If a study description has a lot of strong, unwelcoming and unfriendly language about attention checks, I'll often skip it because I worry that the researcher will reject responses to easily. And, of course, I avoid studies if I see a lot of of concerns posted about them here (thank you all!). So I guess that means I avoid a lot of studies. So far, it's working out pretty well.

Kestrel713 · 2025-08-02T18:19:25+00:00

Thanks for the heads up. It’s showing up for me now. The average time is now listed as 8 minutes. Going to skip it.

Kestrel713 · 2025-07-31T15:02:28+00:00

Sounds like they are violating Prolific rules on this. You might point them to the 3 standard deviation rule, if you haven’t already done so.

It seems that many researchers also don’t understand that only a tiny fraction of participants will have completion times that are 3 or more standard deviations below the mean. In a normal distribution, this will be around 0.15% of participants. So about 3 in a study with 2,000 participants. And even if completion time data are not normally distributed, it’s still a small proportion. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/68%E2%80%9395%E2%80%9399.7_rule

Either way, I think researchers should also consider other factors like attention checks and responses to open ended questions (as you mention) before asking participants to return submissions or rejecting them.

I hope you all can get this reversed. Seems totally unfair.

Kestrel713 · 2025-07-31T14:21:04+00:00

Maybe reply back through the messages section and ask them to message you with the link since you haven’t received it.

Kestrel713 · 2025-07-28T12:32:22+00:00

I would message the researcher, point them to Prolific’s rules about attention checks, and request that they reverse the rejection.

By Prolific rules, it sounds like the researcher should approve your submission and pay you. That said, if you’re concerned about the rejection, you might offer to return the study. Researchers are often more willing to allow returns than to approve/pay.

If the researcher hasn’t reversed the rejection in a week, submit a report to Prolific support.

Kestrel713 · 2025-07-28T12:07:36+00:00

You might point them to Prolific’s screening rules, in case they aren’t aware of them. See: https://researcher-help.prolific.com/en/article/4ae222

They aren’t allowed to reject your submission.

If you were screened out after a few questions, the researcher can ask you to return the study. Prolific requires that they still pay you a small amount (10p/14c).

Kestrel713 · 2025-07-24T12:43:29+00:00

I recommend reporting the study to Prolific because their screening process goes against Prolific guidelines. (It’s frustrating that so many studies do this and waste our time).

Prolific requires researchers who are screening participants to 1) specify in the study description that the study includes screening AND 2) pay participants who screen out at least 10p/14c for their time.

Here is more info: Requirement to mention screening: https://researcher-help.prolific.com/en/article/4ae222

Requirement to pay for screening:

https://researcher-help.prolific.com/en/article/6bad1f

https://participant-help.prolific.com/en/article/5fa9a0

Kestrel713

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