Center for

Health Sciences

eResearch Electronic Data Capture

REDCap is an OSU CHS supported platform for collecting research survey data. It is available for free to all OSU CHS system students, faculty, and staff. 

• What is REDCap?

  REDCap was created in 2004 at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (projectredcap.org). OSU Center for Health Sciences joined the REDCap Consortium in 2019. REDCap provides a secure method for building research surveys and meets HIPAA security standards. REDCap supports online, offline, and mobile data collection.

• What does REDCap do?

  REDCap is intended to support clinical and human subject research by OSU CHS researchers. Prior to collecting research data, investigators must operate under an IRB protocol when applicable. Contact chsirb@okstate.edu for IRB data sharing, and related questions.

• Who uses REDcap?

  REDCap is used by 5,300 research organizations in 142 countries. REDCap is used by over 100 OSU CHS researchers System administration is provided by Health IT. Training and support are provided by the Medical Library. The server environment uses HIPAA protected health information best practices.

• What are the advantages of using REDCap?
  • Secure and web-based. Input data from anywhere in the world with secure web authentication, data logging, and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption.
  • Fast and flexible. Conception to production-level database in less than one day.
  • Multisite access. Projects can be used by researchers from multiple sites and institutions.
  • Fully customizable. You are in total control of shaping your database or survey.
  • Advanced question features. Auto-validation, branching logic, and stop actions.
  • Mid-study modifications. You may modify the database or survey at any time during the study.
  • Data import functions. Data may be imported from external data sources to begin a study or to provide mid-study data uploads.
  • Data comparison functions. Double data entry / Blinded data entry.
  • Export survey results to common data analysis packages. Export your data to Microsoft Excel, SAS, STATA, R, or SPSS for analysis.
  • Save your survey or forms as PDFs. Generate a PDF version for printing in order to collect responses offline
• Can REDCap be used for e-consent?
  Yes. Building a successful e-consent project requires at least intermediate familiarity with REDCap, especially for complex e-consents. Here is General Guidance on E-Consent.
  
  

  Note that at this time this guidance is NOT applicable to consent for FDA-regulated research, as electronic systems used to create and maintain research records for FDA-regulated research must undergo validation procedures to be fully 21 CFR Part 11 compliant. Although REDCap has the components to be 21 CFR Part 11 compliant, this validation has not been completed. 
  
  

  During the development process, it is important to consider the population under study, and whether eConsent is a good option for the study population. For example, some subjects may prefer one method over another. Other subjects may have difficulty navigating or using electronic systems, e.g., a lack of familiarity with electronic devices, poor eyesight, or impaired motor skills. In addition, if there are technical difficulties with the platform or internet connection, paper-based consent processes may be needed as a back-up. Therefore, it may be necessary to have both paper-based and eConsent methods described in the study protocol.

  In some cases, the IRB may decide that utilizing eConsent will hinder the ability of the study team to meet regulatory requirements and obtain a legally effective informed consent and therefore may not approve use of an eConsent process.