Getting started with REDCap

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Table of Contents

Accessing your account 

Because REDCap is secured by OHIO  single sign-on , you simply need to log in with your OHIO credentials to provision an account in REDCap. After the initial creation of your account, you can  login to REDCap using your usual OHIO credentials.

Requesting guest access

OHIO faculty or staff members can request and sponsor an OHIO Guest Account for a collaborator that is not formally affiliated with the University. Details about requesting and sponsoring an OHIO Guest Account can be found on the Requesting a long-term OHIO guest account  page.

Accessing your account when you are not on campus

REDCap can be accessed from anywhere, and as of July 2021, you no longer need the  VPN  to access your projects.

Accessing your account when you are not connected to the Internet 

REDCap offers a mobile app that can be used for offline data collection. The app can sync data back to your REDCap project when you reconnect to the Internet. The app can be downloaded to any Android or Apple mobile device, including smart phones and tablets, and is available in your platform's app store. If you are interested in setting up a mobile project or have questions about setting up a mobile project, please contact Elizabeth Capps ( REDCap@ohio.edu ).

Accessing a project from your mobile device through MyCap 

MyCap is a mobile device application that can be used by participants to complete surveys and tasks associated with REDCap projects. Available as an external module that can be enabled on a REDCap project, MyCap allows researchers to capture participant/patient-reported outcomes via the MyCap app on a participant’s mobile device. The data is then sent from the app to the REDCap project.

A user must complete the  MyCap API Token Pre-Approval Request Survey . Once completed an email trigger will submit a ticket to  servicedesk@ohio.edu  for the security office to review. Upon review of the ticket, it will then be reassigned to the academic technology team to enable the MyCap external module.  ONLY the approved project(s) for the approved user will be enabled. This is done on a case-by-case basis. 

Creating or modifying projects

Please review the following  video resource  to understand a brief overview of REDCap and learn the basics of project creation. For an overview of REDCap project types, review this  video . For a more in-depth overview of project creation, consider attending a REDCap workshop. Information on scheduling a workshop can be found on the  OIT Workshops .

Understanding project status

A project in Development statuscan be edited in real time, and any changes made will take effect immediately. You can think of Development status as the "draft" of your project. It is important to thoroughly test your project while it is in Development: this may include entering data, sending out surveys, or testing any other relevant project functions.

A project in Production statuscannot be edited in real time and any changes made will only take effect:

  1. After being submitted to an administrator for review, or

  2. If the changes are the kind that can be automatically accepted (discussed further below). You should only move your project into Production status if it has been thoroughly tested; you can think of Production status as the "final version" of your project.

Making changes to your project

If your project is still in Development status, you can make changes in real time and they will immediately take effect. However, if your project is in Production status, you will need to Enter Draft Mode. After making the necessary changes, you will be prompted to Submit Changes for Review. Minor changes to a project may result in the changes being automatically approved (e.g., adding new fields, reordering existing fields).

Changes that modify existing fields and result in critical issues will need to be approved by a REDCap administrator. Critical issues exist when a project change threatens the integrity of the data; this includes deleting a field, deleting a multiple choice option, and changing a field type (e.g., changing a multiple choice question to a descriptive question). REDCap will automatically email an administrator once you submit changes for review and you will receive another email once the administrator has decided to approve or reject your changes.

Setting up double-data entry

Double-data entry can only be enabled by REDCap administrators. To enable double-data entry for your project, send a request to ( REDCap@ohio.edu ) and include:

  • Your name

  • OHIO ID

  • Project name

Once enabled, you will be able to select individuals to serve as Data Entry Person 1, Data Entry Person 2, and Reviewer. Note: Only one person can be assigned to each data entry position (i.e. Data Entry Person 1 or 2). Once the data has been entered by both data entry persons, the Reviewer can compare the two records and merge them by using the Data Comparison Tool.

Sending out multiple survey links through email 

REDCap does not offer a way to send out multiple survey links in a single email, i.e., if you want a teacher to complete multiple surveys about their students, there is not a way to combine these survey links into one email. However, past researchers have successfully accomplished this task by creating individual links to each survey, then manually combining those links into a message sent with another email service (e.g., Microsoft Outlook or Gmail).  Please note: REDCap allows you to send one survey link at a time with an email generated by the system and many researchers find this sufficient for their purposes.

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