Get started with IU REDCap

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Overview

Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap), originally developed by Vanderbilt University, is a self-managed, secure, web-based platform designed to support data collection and data management for research, operations support, and quality improvement projects. REDCap's easy-to-use, intuitive features allow users to rapidly build and manage secure online surveys and databases.

REDCap's streamlined, intuitive functionality and features enable you to rapidly develop surveys and databases for collecting and managing research data. No programming experience is needed to start creating data entry forms and surveys.

Learn more about REDCap via a quick overview video on YouTube.

Benefits of using REDCap include:

  • Fast: Quick project start-up.
  • Easy: Intuitive user interface and workflow; readily available online training videos and documentation make it easy to get started.
  • Fully customizable: Full control of shaping your database.
  • Web-based: Enter data and build databases from anywhere in the world over a secure web connection, with authentication and data logging.
  • Import/export data: Import CSV files from Microsoft Excel and Access; export data to Excel, SAS, Stata, R, and SPSS, or in CDISC Operational Data Model XML (ODM-XML) format.
  • Audit trail: Track data manipulation, project changes, imports, and exports by date and user.
  • Advanced features: Mid-study modifications, auto-validation, branching logic, calculated fields, and repeating instruments and events.
  • Scheduling: Built-in project calendar and scheduling module for organizing your events and appointments.
  • Reports and stats: Online tool for viewing reports of your data, exporting your reports, and turning your reports into plots, graphs, and statistics.
  • Autonomous user management: Project owners have complete autonomy and control to add new users and determine specific user rights.
  • Multi-site access: REDCap can be used from multiple sites and institutions.
  • Survey participant list: Build a list of email contacts, create custom email invitations, and track who responds.
  • Anonymous surveys: Keep your participant responses anonymous (default), or identify responses from email contacts.
  • Save as PDF: Generate PDFs of your forms and surveys to print for use in offline data collection.
  • Mobile app: Available for iOS and Android for offline data collection by the project team.

About IU REDCap

REDCap is available to Indiana University researchers as a result of IU's partnership in the REDCap Consortium. Sponsored by UITS Research Technologies (UITS-RT) Biomedical and Health Research Services (BHRS), IU REDCap is one of several research-related collaboration tools offered by the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (Indiana CTSI). UITS-RT and the Indiana CTSI partner to offer the IU REDCap service to the community of IU and Indiana CTSI affiliated researchers.

Request an account

To use IU REDCap, you need an IU REDCap account. Before requesting an account, you must read and agree to the terms of the IU REDCap user agreement. The agreement contains information regarding backups and maintenance windows, as well as details regarding your responsibilities when using the IU REDCap service. To request an account, use the REDCap Account Request form.

Note:
IU REDCap is primarily intended for students, faculty, and staff at IU, Purdue University, and the University of Notre Dame (each is a member of the Indiana CTSI), and any of their institutional partners, specifically IU Health, Eskenazi Health, Regenstrief Institute, IU School of Medicine, and Roudebush VA Medical Center. If you're affiliated with one of these institutions and have collaborators who aren't, those collaborators can request accounts that let them access your existing IU REDCap projects (however, they will not be able to create their own projects).

Log into IU REDCap

Logging in to IU REDCap requires two-factor authentication. For help, see IU REDCap two-factor authentication options.

Once you have an account, access IU REDCap by logging in on the IU REDCap Log In page:

Note:
If you can't remember your IU passphrase, see Reset your IU passphrase. If you can't remember your non-IU REDCap password, select Forgot your password? on the IU REDCap Log In page.

Learn the basics

Helpful resources for new users include:

  • Training videos: To learn the basics, view this brief summary video, and then continue with the training videos available on the training resources page (you may need to scroll down to find the "REDCap Training Videos" section). Training video topics include:
    • Getting started: Overviews of fundamental concepts and features
    • Building a project: Learn how to build and modify data collection instruments
    • Basic features and modules: Explore the most popular built-in tools, including the calendar and scheduling module
    • Types of REDCap projects: Review the different types of projects and see examples of each project type in action
    • Special features: Explore advanced features that can be enabled in REDCap projects (for example, repeatable instruments and events, REDCap mobile app, and more)
  • FAQ: Once you have an account and can log into IU REDCap, see the Help & FAQ page for more tips about getting started.

Add users to your project

To give a new user access to your project:

  1. Direct the user to request an IU REDCap account via the REDCap Account Request form. Once the IU REDCap account is created, have the user log into IU REDCap to make sure the account is working properly.
  2. Confirm the user's email address and username.
  3. Log into IU REDCap, and then, on the My Projects tab, choose your project's name.
  4. Under "Applications", select User Rights.
  5. In the "Add new user" field, enter the user's username (not the user's email address).
  6. Select Add with custom rights, and then check the boxes next to the rights you want to assign to the new user.
  7. Select Add user.

Work with data containing PHI

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) established rules protecting the privacy and security of individually identifiable health information. The HIPAA Privacy Rule and Security Rule set national standards requiring organizations and individuals to implement certain administrative, physical, and technical safeguards to maintain the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of protected health information (PHI).

This UITS system or service meets certain requirements established in the HIPAA Security Rule thereby enabling its use for work involving data that contain protected health information (PHI). However, using this system or service does not fulfill your legal responsibilities for protecting the privacy and security of data that contain PHI. You may use this system or service for work involving data that contain PHI only if you institute additional administrative, physical, and technical safeguards that complement those UITS already has in place.

For more, see Your legal responsibilities for protecting data containing protected health information (PHI) when using UITS Research Technologies systems and services.

Note:

Although PHI is classified as Critical data, other types of institutional data classified as Critical are not permitted on Research Technologies systems. For help determining which institutional data elements classified as Critical are considered PHI, see About protected health information (PHI) data elements in the classifications of institutional data.

If you have questions about securing HIPAA-regulated research data at IU, email securemyresearch@iu.edu. SecureMyResearch provides self-service resources and one-on-one consulting to help IU researchers, faculty, and staff meet cybersecurity and compliance requirements for processing, storing, and sharing regulated and unregulated research data; for more, see About SecureMyResearch. To learn more about properly ensuring the safe handling of PHI on UITS systems, see the UITS IT Training video Securing HIPAA Workflows on UITS Systems. To learn about division of responsibilities for securing PHI, see Shared responsibility model for securing PHI on UITS systems.

Get help

Documentation

See the following Knowledge Base documents to learn more about:

Support and consulting

The Indiana CTSI provides technical support for IU REDCap, including consultations, education, and project development assistance.

If you have questions about IU REDCap, or need help setting up or managing an IU REDCap project, email IU REDCap Support at redcap@iu.edu.

Related documents

About the Indiana CTSI (Clinical and Translational Science Institute) Get help securely processing, storing, and sharing HIPAA-regulated data at IU

This is document bdhl in the Knowledge Base.
Last modified on 2023-08-16 14:32:29.