Acknowledging WUSTL REDCap

Any grant proposal where REDCap usage is planned or publication where REDCap was used should include: 1) a short description of REDCap in the methods or other appropriate section in the body of the document, 2) an acknowledgment of grants that support REDCap at Washington University, and 3) citations for the publications related to REDCap and the REDCap Consortium.  This helps ensure that REDCap will continue to receive funding at both Washington University and Vanderbilt University.  Vanderbilt is where the base REDCap software was developed and continues to be maintained.  Example text for each is below.  The text for the methods section also is appropriate for IRB applications.  If you are obtaining sensitive data that will be stored in REDCap, you may need to provide a more thorough description of REDCap security.

If you have additional questions about acknowledging WUSTL REDCap, please Submit a Ticket to REDCap Support.

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Description for methods sections of grant proposals, publications, and IRB applications

The examples below can be modified to match your project as long as the overall details of REDCap do not change. The general example should provide sufficient information for most grants and publications.  The example with additional technical and security details can be used for any proposal or publication but all the information is not always required if you are on a word or character count limit.  Please reach out to the REDCap Helpdesk with any questions regarding language in grants proposals, manuscripts or other relevant research outputs.

General Example:

"Data will be collected and stored on the Washington University instance of REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture) which is maintained by the Institute for Informatics, Data Science, and Biostatistics (I2DB) Informatics Core Services (ICS).  REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture) is a secure, web-based software platform designed to support data capture for research studies, providing 1) an intuitive interface for validated data capture; 2) audit trails for tracking data manipulation and export procedures; 3) automated export procedures for seamless data downloads to common statistical packages; and 4) procedures for data integration and interoperability with external sources. Data stored in the WUSTL REDCap instance in Production Status are protected by multiple layers of security, running on Linux platforms configured for strict user permission policies.  All database transactions (i.e. project updates, data entry, etc.) for projects in Productions Status are continually backed to facilitate PITR (point in time recovery) methods and are stored for approximately 30 days. Access to the data and various systems are protected by WUSTL Key and password authentication in accordance with our University’s HIPAA policy."

Example with Additional Technical and Security Details (often required for sensitive or controlled data):  

"Data will be collected and stored on the Washington University instance of REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture) which is maintained by the Institute for Informatics, Data Science, and Biostatistics (I2DB) Informatics Core Services (ICS). REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture) is a secure, web-based software platform designed to support data capture for research studies, providing 1) an intuitive interface for validated data capture; 2) audit trails for tracking data manipulation and export procedures; 3) automated export procedures for seamless data downloads to common statistical packages; and 4) procedures for data integration and interoperability with external sources. Each REDCap consortium member institution hosts its own separate and independent REDCap server instance.  The Institute for Informatics, Data Science, and Biostatistics (I2DB) hosts the WUSTL REDCap instance and maintains servers where REDCap data and metadata are stored.  Data stored in the WUSTL REDCap instance in Production Status are protected by multiple layers of security, running on Linux platforms configured for strict user permission policies. Our REDCap database is hosted on scalable cloud based services hosted in the WUSM secure network. User access is provided via an external secure web server.  All web communication between the user web browser and the web server is SSL encrypted. Further protections are provided via strict Linux permission configurations on the servers themselves. All database transactions for projects in Productions Status are continually backed to facilitate PITR (point in time recovery) methods and are stored for approximately 30 days. Uploaded files are stored on secure cloud services and are only accessible via the WUSM secure network. Access to the data and various systems are protected by WUSTL Key and password authentication in accordance with our University’s HIPAA policy."

Grant Acknowledgements

The Washington University instance of REDCap receives funding support from the Siteman Cancer Center (SCC) and the Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences (ICTS).  REDCap is considered a core service of both SCC and ICTS that require reporting of usage and impact at regular intervals.  Technical support, user policies, and training for REDCap is provided the Institute for Informatics, Data Science, and Biostatistics (I2DB) Informatics Core Services (ICS) and Bernard Becker Medical Library Data Management and Sharing Services.  To help ensure the continued funding of the Washington University instance of REDCap and REDCap support services, please use the text below in publications and other appropriate research outputs to acknowledge the grants that fund SCC and ICTS as well as support services provided by I2DB and Becker Library.

“The authors wish to acknowledge the Siteman Cancer Center’s National Cancer Institute (NCI) Cancer Center Support Grant P30 CA091842, the Washington University Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences Grant UL1 TR002345 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), and the I2DB and Becker Library REDCap Support teams for supporting the Washington University instance of REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture). NCI and NCATS are part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).“

Citations of REDCap and REDCap Consortium Publications

P.A. Harris, R. Thielke, R. Taylor, J. Payne, N. Gonzalez, J.G. Conde. Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) – A metadata-driven methodology and workflow process for providing translational research informatics support, J Biomed Inform. 2009 Apr;42(2):377-81. [doi: 10.1016/j.jbi.2008.08.010].

PA Harris, R Taylor, BL Minor, V Elliott, M Fernandez, L O’Neal, L McLeod, G Delacqua, F Delacqua, J Kirby, SN Duda, REDCap Consortium,The REDCap consortium: Building an international community of software partners, J Biomed Inform. 2019 May 9 [doi: 10.1016/j.jbi.2019.103208]