Why am I receiving calls, emails, or messages from a researcher?

As a participant, researchers may reach out to you by phone, email, or the messages tool to:

• Verify screener responses
• Ask additional screening questions
• Pass along study instructions
• Remind you of your session

Whether they can contact you before you've confirmed your session depends on whether the study has the Premium Screening feature.

Studies without Premium Screening

Most studies (about 70%) don't have Premium Screening. This means researchers will only see your email and phone number after you've confirmed your session.

They may use this contact information to:

• Give further instructions about the session
• Send an NDA or consent form
• Provide a session link
• Send additional reminders
• Call you at your session time for phone studies

Researchers can also message you using the messages tool. These messages will arrive as both a text and an email. To view and reply, follow the link in the email or text to the Messages tab of your account.

Studies with Premium Screening

If a study has Premium Screening, the researcher will receive your email and phone number as soon as you apply, instead of waiting until you've confirmed your session. This lets the research team verify information and decide who's the best fit for their study.

In addition to the reasons listed above, they may also contact you to:

• Confirm your screener answers
• Ask additional screening questions
• Verify certain information
• Review the study requirements with you
• Coordinate a date and time, or ask about your availability

Can I see which studies have Premium Screening before applying?

Yes. Studies with Premium Screening will have a note at the bottom of the study details page letting you know the researcher may contact you.

Will the researcher tell me what to expect from additional screening?

We strongly encourage researchers to share details upfront, including the phone number or email address they'll use to contact you. That said, some teams are better about this than others, and we can't guarantee that every touchpoint will be listed in the application.

Will I be paid for time spent on a call or email chain for Premium Screening?

No. Additional screening is considered part of the selection process, not compensated time.

How long should I expect a Premium Screening call to take?

Most calls are short, averaging about 10 minutes. You're welcome to ask the researcher how long the call will be. If it exceeds what you're comfortable with, you can let them know you're no longer interested in the study.

How often will a researcher call or email me?

For studies with Premium Screening, researchers typically only reach out once before approving participants. They may reach out more than once if the study has multiple parts, spans several weeks or months, or has a very high incentive.

Once you're confirmed for a study, outreach varies — you may not hear from the researcher at all, or they may send a couple of emails with instructions, links, or reminders ahead of your session. If you feel you're being contacted too much for a specific study, let us know.

Can researchers contact me after the study?

Researchers shouldn't reach out to you after your study is complete. If a researcher is contacting you to recruit you off our platform, sending you sales or marketing emails, or otherwise contacting you inappropriately, please contact our support team.

I don't want my contact information shown to researchers. Can I participate without sharing it?

Both a phone number and email address are required to participate. We're not able to remove either from a researcher's view.