Resources for Researchers

A practical overview of the opportunities and methodological challenges of internet-based surveys, including recruitment, data quality and common operational problems. Particularly relevant to Indian psychiatry researchers.

Read this before choosing an online survey design. Use it to anticipate recruitment and data-quality issues and to plan safeguards and troubleshooting.

Highlights key limitations of online surveys, especially the difficulty of defining the population reached and the risk of self-selection bias.

Use it when deciding whether an online convenience sample can answer the research question. Explicitly describe the recruitment pathway, sampling limitations and limits to generalisability.

Explains the implications of non-probability sampling, including convenience and purposive sampling, which are common in online recruitment.

Use it when justifying the sampling strategy and when interpreting findings. Avoid presenting a convenience sample as representative of a wider population without supporting evidence.

Examines respondents' perceptions of web-survey length and the relationship between duration, respondent experience and data collection.

Use when planning questionnaire burden. Keep surveys as concise as the research objectives permit, pilot the estimated completion time and state the expected duration accurately.

Outlines the Survey Data Quality Evaluation Model (SDQEM), a set of seven evidence-based procedures to help researchers identify and remove low-quality cases (e.g., bots, inattentive respondents, or fraudulent participants) in online survey research. It highlights that approximately half of published articles using online surveys do not describe any data quality evaluation procedures.

Use this framework when designing your study (e.g., adding attention checks or eligibility screeners) and when cleaning your data (e.g., checking response times, longstring patterns, or Mahalanobis Distance). It provides clear guidance on making "shallow" vs. "deep" cuts to balance data retention and quality.

Introduces PsyToolkit software for programming psychological experiments.

Useful for understanding the experimental capabilities and technical background of PsyToolkit. If the platform is used in a study, cite the relevant PsyToolkit publications in the manuscript.

Describes the web-based use of PsyToolkit for online questionnaires and reaction-time experiments.

Read when considering PsyToolkit for questionnaire studies or online behavioural experiments. Review current platform features, data storage arrangements and terms directly on the platform before use.

Provides access to the platform, documentation, examples and information about citing PsyToolkit.

Consult the current documentation before building a study. Check whether the features, data handling and account terms meet the study protocol and institutional requirements.

Note: The two Stoet papers above are the platform publications; they are not substitutes for checking the current service terms.

A reporting checklist specifically developed for internet-based surveys. It addresses survey design, recruitment, consent, participation metrics, questionnaire design and prevention or handling of multiple submissions.

Use CHERRIES when designing the survey and again when writing the manuscript. It is particularly useful for transparently reporting open versus closed surveys, view/participation/completion metrics and technical features.

A consensus-based reporting guideline for survey studies, covering both web-based and non-web-based surveys.

Use the CROSS checklist to check completeness of the Methods and Results sections when preparing a survey manuscript. For web-specific reporting, use it alongside CHERRIES.

The principal national ethical guidance for biomedical and health research involving human participants in India. It addresses ethics review, informed consent, risk, privacy and confidentiality, vulnerable participants and research responsibilities.

Read the sections relevant to the study before submission to an Institutional Ethics Committee. Online recruitment and electronic consent do not remove the requirement for appropriate ethics review and safeguards.

The IPS Code includes an explicit provision that psychiatrists involved in research must follow ethical principles and the requirements of the relevant Research Ethics Committee/Institutional Review Board. It addresses research applications and grants, recruitment, study conduct, interpretation, presentation and publication of findings.

Psychiatrists should consult this alongside the ICMR guidelines and their institution's ethics requirements. It is a professional code of ethics, not a replacement for detailed national research-ethics guidance or IEC approval.

The national law concerning processing of digital personal data. It is relevant when online research collects or otherwise processes identifiable digital personal data.

Researchers should understand the provisions relevant to notice, consent, purpose, security, data-principal rights and responsibilities of data fiduciaries. Determine applicability and current commencement provisions for the particular research activity.

The Rules provide implementation details under the PDPP Act, including requirements concerning notices, consent and data handling. Different provisions have different commencement dates.

Review the Rules and the official enforcement timeline rather than assuming every provision commenced at the same time. Researchers should seek institutional/legal guidance on applicability to their study.

Note: This is a legal resource, not a substitute for advice from the institution's data-protection/legal office. Check for subsequent corrigenda and commencement notifications.

A practical guide to designing data-collection tools in psychiatric research, including study format, language, item ordering, coding and data-entry considerations.

Use when developing a questionnaire, case-record form or data master sheet. Although not limited to online surveys, its principles are relevant before transferring a tool to an online platform.

A psychiatry-focused practical resource on selecting online data-collection platforms, designing forms and considering ethical issues.

Use as supplementary practical reading. Confirm the final published version and bibliographic details before citing it in academic work.