About GujPsychSurvey
Connecting the community of researchers with the community of participants across Gujarat through ethical, transparent recruitment.
1. Purpose
GujPsychSurvey is a free online directory that connects researchers running ethically approved studies with people in Gujarat who may wish to take part. Its purpose is participant recruitment.
Its aims are to:
- Make research studies accessible to the Gujarati-speaking population.
- Help researchers recruit participants beyond their own institutional networks.
- Provide one common place to discover ongoing research in Gujarat.
- Gradually build a network of people who are interested in taking part in research.
- Promote ethical, transparent research recruitment.
Research in mental health and related fields needs people from the communities it hopes to understand. Findings from other countries or regions do not always reflect the languages, cultures, family and social circumstances, or healthcare needs of people in Gujarat.
2. What GujPsychSurvey is, and is not
| It is | It is not |
|---|---|
| A lightweight, independently run directory of studies related to mental health and psychology that are open for participation across Gujarat state. | A questionnaire-hosting platform. Surveys stay on the researcher's own platform. |
| Open to anyone: no login and no registration are needed to browse. | A participant-login portal. |
| An optional email list, so people can hear about newly approved studies. | A central database of research participants or their demographic details. |
| Open to researchers using any survey platform (Google Forms, Microsoft Forms, PsyToolkit and others). | A system that requires researchers to use one particular platform, or an institutional research-management system. |
| A site that does not track individual visitors or who opens which survey. | An ethics committee, a healthcare provider, or a guarantor of any study. |
3. How the directory works
For researchers. A researcher submits a study through email, with the study details and the ethics approval documents. The administrator checks the application and either approves it, or declines it. Approved studies are published under the Active survey list.
4. Ethics
What we check before a study is listed
- The principal investigator's identity and institutional affiliation.
- That approval has been given by an Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC/IRB), with the committee's name, the approval number, and a supporting document.
- That the study description, eligibility criteria and participation link are clear and complete.
- That the study has contact details for questions and concerns.
What we do not do
GujPsychSurvey is not an ethics committee. We do not judge the scientific merit of a study, monitor how it is conducted, or check the responses it collects. Our check is administrative. Participants should still read the consent information on the researcher's own survey and decide for themselves.
What researchers must do
- Obtain and keep valid ethics approval for as long as the study is listed.
- Provide a participant information sheet and obtain informed consent, with participation voluntary and withdrawal possible.
- Protect participants' data and follow data-protection law, including where children (people under 18) take part.
- Provide support information where a study may cause distress.
- Tell us when the study closes, and before any material change to its design, criteria, link or approval.
Changes, suspension and records
A material change to an approved study is re-reviewed before the change appears on the site. If a study's approval lapses, a concern is raised, or its link no longer matches its description, we may suspend the listing, ask for corrections, or withdraw it. Administrative decisions and changes are recorded so that there is a history of what was approved, when, and why.
Guiding references: the ICMR National Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical and Health Research Involving Human Participants (2017), which describe voluntary participation, informed consent, privacy and confidentiality.
5. Privacy and data protection
We aim to collect as little personal data as possible. The table shows what is collected, by which part of the service.
| Part of the service | What is collected | Who handles it and for how long |
|---|---|---|
| Browsing this website | Nothing about you. There is no login, and no analytics or tracking tools. Your language choice is saved in your own browser only. | Stays on your device. Clear your browser data to remove it. |
| Participant sign-up (optional) | Your email address only, to tell you about newly approved studies. Double opt-in confirmation; an unsubscribable link in every email. | Your email is added to Google Groups,which only sends messages related to new study announcements. You can unsubscribe at any time. |
| Researcher application | Name, institution, contact details, study details and ethics approval documents. | The form service and cloud storage we use (Google Forms and Google Drive). Kept as an administrative record of decisions. |
| The survey itself | Whatever the researcher's study asks for. We never receive it. | The researcher, under their own consent and privacy terms. |
Law
Personal data in India is governed by the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, and the PDPR Rules, 2025 (notified in November 2025). The Rules come into force in phases, with most obligations expected about 18 months after notification (around May 2027). We aim to follow the Act's principles already: clear notice, consent that is free and specific, collecting only what is needed, keeping it only as long as needed, and keeping it secure.
For the optional email list and researcher applications, the maintainer decides why and how the data is used, and is therefore the person responsible for it under the Act (the "data fiduciary"). Some of the services we use may store data outside India.
Keep your own safety in mind. Never share OTPs, passwords, PINs, Aadhaar, PAN or bank details through a research survey. If a study asks, do not continue, and tell us.
6. Content, copyright and external links
The text and design of this website are © GujPsychSurvey. Study titles, descriptions and survey links are supplied by researchers, who remain responsible for them and for any instruments or materials they use. Links to other websites, including researchers' surveys and the GujPsych Repository, are provided for convenience. We are not responsible for their content or privacy practices.
7. Developer and maintainer
GujPsychSurvey is designed, built and maintained by:
Name: Dr Darshankumar Dharaiya
Qualifications: MD Psychiatry
Role: Developer, administrator and maintainer of GujPsychSurvey
Professional affiliation: This website is an independent personal project and is not an institutional service.
Contact: Dharaiya.darshan@gmail.com
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-9351-8602
Related project: GujPsych Repository, a centralized open-access collection of Gujarati psychometric scales and mental health resources.
Funding and conflicts of interest: None
Administration: The maintainer reviews researcher applications, verifies ethics approval, publishes and edits listings, suspends or withdraws studies, and archives completed ones. The individual researcher and participants are responsible for individual studies and participation.
8. Contact and feedback
For questions about the site, corrections, privacy requests, concerns about a listed study, or to close or withdraw a study, write to: gujpsych.survey@gmail.com
This is a volunteer-run service and may take a few days to reply. This email is not for emergencies; for urgent help, see the Get Help page.
Page last updated: 07 Nov 2026