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REDCap: Home

A guide for UWA researchers to getting started with REDCap for medical research surveys

Decorative banner. Images of medical research and data. REDCap logo.

What is REDCap?

A secure, web-based application used to create and manage online surveys and databases in medical research. 

REDCap = Research Electronic Data Capture 

A REDCap “project” is used to enter data, either by trained data entry staff, or through a survey which is sent out to study participants to answer. 

 

A brief overview of REDCap (Video 5:04)

How do I access REDCap?

If you have a REDCap user account, log in to REDCap at https://mdhs-redcap.meddent.uwa.edu.au/fmdhs

Request a REDCap user account by emailing redcapadmin@uwa.edu.au

Upon creation of your account, you will receive a confirmation email with the login URL as well as a welcome email with links to resources to learn more about REDCap. 

Who can use REDCap?

University staff members, research students, or honorary staff are eligible to use the UWA REDCap instance for HREC approved research projects. 

Non UWA research staff are eligible for a user account if sponsored by a UWA staff member related to the research project.

Please note that non-UWA users can only have Data Entry roles. All users are required to provide an institutional email address.

What projects can be developed in REDCap?

To be eligible to use the hosted UWA REDCap instance, your study must be a non-commercial University of Western Australia (UWA) sponsored research project. Our license agreement with the REDCap developers requires this. 

If the University is not a primary research partner, or if the study ethics agreement requires that the data be controlled by a different institution, then you will not be able to use the UWA REDCap instance. 

Terms of Use

The Principal Investigator (or Information Custodian as per UWA’s Information Protection Policy) is responsible for: 

  • Ensuring that your use of RedCAP and the data within your survey is -  

    • protected from unauthorised access, modification or misuse;  

    • prevented from loss or inappropriate disclosure; 

    • managed in accordance with its business value to the University; and/or 

    • compliant with statutory and/or other legal obligations. 

  • Requesting and/or confirming new users to be added to the project, including sponsoring external users requiring access. 

  • Removing users who no longer require access. 

  • Backing up the survey tool and data on a regular basis. 

  • Moving the survey tool and data to a suitable information management system once the project is complete. Please note that RedCAP is only intended for data capture and collection, not ongoing storage and archiving.  

  • Ensuring RedCAP is cited in publications. 

Please note that the RedCAP Administrator cannot develop surveys on your project team’s behalf. If RedCAP expertise is required, this will need to be sourced or developed within the project team. The RedCAP Administrator has access to an admin forum and is able to ask troubleshooting and/or technical questions on your behalf and relay the answers. 

Banner images source: Pixabay 1245 licensed under the Pixabay Licence. REDCap logo (3) registered trademark of Vanderbilt University.

CONTENT LICENCE

 Except for logos, Canva designs or where otherwise indicated, content in this guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Licence.