Recruitment and administration
The Recruitment and administration pillar governs the full participant operations system, including sourcing, screening, scheduling, consent, privacy, incentives, participant records, communications, reporting and learning.
REC-ADMN 1.0.0
Recruitment operating model
How teams decide whether recruitment is self-service, full-service or hybrid.
REC-ADMN 1.1.1
Participant access is part of the research operating system
Recruitment must be designed as a system of sourcing, screening, consent, records, scheduling, incentives and learning, not treated as isolated administration.
REC-ADMN 1.1.2
Classify recruitment support before outreach starts
A study must be classified as self-service, full-service or hybrid before any participant outreach, with the decision based on risk, audience sensitivity, access needs, timescale and sample complexity.
REC-ADMN 1.1.3
Reserve full-service recruitment for material risk or specialist access
Use full-service recruitment where participant harm, safeguarding, legal sensitivity, hard-to-reach access, high-profile stakeholders or complex incentives require specialist coordination.
REC-ADMN 1.1.4
Do not make participants carry operational confusion
People coordinating recruitment must give participants clear information, timely updates and a single route for questions, changes or withdrawal.
REC-ADMN 2.0.0
Participant sourcing and screening
How participant sources, sample plans and screeners are selected and reviewed.
REC-ADMN 2.1.1
Approve the sample rationale
The study lead must document and review the sample rationale, inclusion and exclusion criteria, source channels and known bias risks before screening begins.
REC-ADMN 2.1.2
Use more than one source where bias would damage the decision
Where a single panel, agency, staff list or community route would distort findings, use mixed sourcing and record the trade-offs.
REC-ADMN 2.1.3
Screen without extracting unnecessary personal information
Screening questions must be relevant, proportionate and written so participants can understand why information is being requested.
REC-ADMN 3.0.0
Consent, privacy and participant records
How consent, privacy notices and participant records are created, stored, amended and retired.
REC-ADMN 3.1.1
Record informed consent before research participation
Participants must receive clear study information and give recorded informed consent before taking part, including consent choices for recording, quotation and future contact.
REC-ADMN 3.1.2
Separate participant identity from research evidence
Participant contact details and direct identifiers must be stored separately from notes, recordings, transcripts and findings unless an approved exception is recorded.
REC-ADMN 3.1.3
Treat panels as living data products
Participant panels should have named ownership, consent refresh points, retention rules, suppression lists, audit trails and a routine process for removing stale or unsuitable records.
REC-ADMN 4.0.0
Incentives and participant care
How incentives, reimbursement, accessibility support and participant wellbeing are handled.
REC-ADMN 4.1.1
Incentives should recognise effort without creating pressure
Incentives and reimbursements should be fair, timely and proportionate to participant effort, while avoiding undue influence or exclusion.
REC-ADMN 4.1.2
Record incentive decisions and payment status
The team must record the incentive offered, approval basis, fulfilment route, payment status and unresolved payment issues for each participant who is due an incentive.
REC-ADMN 4.1.3
Respect withdrawal and non-attendance
Teams must handle withdrawal, late cancellation and non-attendance without blame, while recording operational impact so future planning improves.
REC-ADMN 5.0.0
Scheduling and communications
How participants, researchers and observers are kept aligned before, during and after sessions.
REC-ADMN 5.1.1
Confirm session logistics in writing
Participants must receive written confirmation of session time, channel or location, access support, preparation needs, incentive terms, withdrawal route and contact details.
REC-ADMN 5.1.2
Automate routine reminders after the wording is safe
Use scheduling and reminder automation for repeatable logistics, but review message content for plain language, privacy, access needs and the ability to reply to a person.
REC-ADMN 5.1.3
Keep observers behind the participant relationship
Observers must not contact participants directly unless the study plan assigns that responsibility and participants have been told.
REC-ADMN 6.0.0
Reporting and operational learning
How recruitment performance, participant experience and operating risks are reviewed.
REC-ADMN 6.1.1
Review recruitment performance after fieldwork
The study record must include planned sample, achieved sample, source effectiveness, no-show rate, incentive issues, access needs met, unresolved risks and recommendations for future recruitment.
REC-ADMN 6.1.2
Turn recruitment learning into reusable operations
Where the same recruitment issue appears across studies, treat it as an operating-system improvement candidate rather than a one-off delivery problem.
REC-ADMN 6.1.3
Measure recruitment by quality and care, not only speed
Recruitment performance should balance time, cost, sample fit, representation, participant experience, researcher effort and risk reduction.
Glossary
- Support model
- The decision about whether recruitment is self-service, full-service or hybrid.
- Sample rationale
- The documented reason a participant group, source and screening approach are appropriate for the research question.
- Participant record
- The operational record used to manage contact, consent, scheduling, incentive and participation status.
Change history
-
2026-07-02
Converted REC-ADMN into the reference-quality clause model with operating model, recruitment, consent, incentives, scheduling and learning sections.