faq-research-participant-incentive-payments
Frequently Asked Questions: Research Participant Incentive Payments
Research participant incentives are payments made to individuals who particpate as human subjects in research projects to motivate their participation, therefore providing a direct benefit to the project.
Research incentive payments can be made to CSUEB Students or Non-CSU Employees. CSUEB Students may only receive direct credits to their student accounts. Non-CSU Students/Non-CSU Employees may receive gift card payments.
Incentives involving research on human subjects will require approval from the Insitutional Review Board. Please reference the IRB Website for more information: https://www.csueastbay.edu/orsp/compliance/irb/index.html
Research participant incentive payments are cash-equivelant, and are subject to financial aid requirements for students, and tax reportability regulations for all recipients. In addition, the Institutional Review Board (IRB) must review and approval all projects which involve research on human subjects.
After reading the step by step guidance, please submit a request form. You should do this several weeks in advance of when you need to pay recipients. You will need to provide project information and attach your IRB approval. Once approved, you may proceed with purchasing and distributing the incentives. If you choose to contract with a company to distribute the incentives, you are still required to submit a request form so that ORSP is aware that incentives are being distributed and ensure that the IRB approval is in place.
Please read our step by step guidance on how to process research participant incentive payments: https://www.csueastbay.edu/orsp/files/docs/policy/orsp-research-incentives-guidance.pdf
Once you submit a request and obtain approval, you may either purchase gift cards yourself and be reimbursed, or have your department or ORSP purchase these for you via their Department Procurement Card. Incentives for CSUEB Students are processed via direct payments to student accounts only.
Any change in the number of participants and the amount per incentive you plan to distribute needs to be reviewed and approved by the Institutional Review Board. Please submit a modification if you have changes to your approved protocol. Please refer to the IRB page for modifications for further information: https://www.csueastbay.edu/orsp/compliance/irb/modification.html