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Institutional Review Board (IRB)
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Crowdsourcing Platforms

Table of Contents

Purpose

This guidance is intended to help investigators understand the ethical and regulatory considerations associated with using crowdsourcing platforms for human subjects research.

Crowdsourcing platforms may be useful for recruitment, survey administration, behavioral tasks, pilot testing, and other online research activities. However, these platforms also present unique concerns related to privacy, confidentiality, informed consent, participant identity verification, compensation, and data quality.

Examples of crowdsourcing platforms include:

  • Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk)
  • Prolific
  • CloudResearch
  • Qualtrics Panels
  • YouGov
  • Lucid
  • SurveyMonkey Audience
  • Social media recruitment groups or online participant panels

Because crowdsourcing technologies and business practices evolve rapidly, investigators are responsible for understanding the platform they intend to use and ensuring that research activities comply with BYU policy, federal regulations, and the platform’s Terms of Service.

What Is a Crowdsourcing Platform?

A crowdsourcing platform is an online service that connects researchers or organizations with large groups of individuals who may complete tasks, surveys, interviews, or other online activities, often in exchange for compensation.

Some platforms are specifically designed for research participation, while others are designed for commercial tasks, marketing, or gig work. These differences may affect:

  • Participant protections
  • Compensation methods
  • Privacy safeguards
  • Data ownership
  • Ability to obtain valid informed consent
  • Scientific integrity and data quality

The IRB may determine that certain platforms are not appropriate for specific studies depending on the nature of the research and the risks involved.

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Investigator Responsibilities

The Principal Investigator is responsible for:

  • Understanding how the platform operates
  • Reviewing and complying with the platform’s Terms of Service
  • Accurately describing the platform and procedures in the IRB application
  • Identifying privacy and confidentiality risks
  • Ensuring participants receive adequate informed consent information
  • Protecting identifiable data
  • Ensuring compensation practices are fair and not coercive
  • Monitoring for bots, fraudulent responses, duplicate participation, and poor-quality data
  • Training research personnel who will program/manage the platform.

The PI remains responsible for the ethical conduct of the research even when recruitment, compensation, or participant management occurs through a third-party platform.

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Data Quality and Scientific Integrity

Online crowdsourcing research may involve increased risks related to:

  • Automated bots
  • Duplicate participation
  • Misrepresentation of eligibility
  • Speeding through surveys
  • Non-attentive responses
  • VPN masking or geographic falsification

Investigators should describe any procedures used to improve data quality, such as:

  • Attention checks
  • CAPTCHA verification
  • IP filtering
  • Qualification screening
  • Duplicate response prevention
  • Manual review procedures

The IRB may request additional safeguards depending on study risk and design.

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IRB Application Expectations

When submitting a study involving a crowdsourcing platform, investigators should clearly describe the following:

Section: Data Collection

Describe the platform information

  • Name of the platform(s)
  • Whether the platform is intended primarily for research, marketing, or task completion

Section: International Research

Studies recruiting international participants may trigger additional legal or privacy obligations, including:

  • General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
  • International data transfer restrictions
  • Country-specific privacy laws

Investigators are responsible for understanding and complying with applicable international requirements when recruiting participants outside the United States.

Section: Subject Enrollment

Q: Please list each recruitment method that you will use to recruit subjects.

You will need to choose “Professional research panel”

Recruitment Procedures include:

  • Recruitment postings or “teaser ads”
  • Study descriptions visible to research subjects
  • Screening procedures
  • Inclusion and exclusion criteria
  • Whether recruitment materials are generated by the platform or the investigator

If the platform does not allow investigators to fully control recruitment language, the IRB may require participants to first view IRB-approved recruitment information before accessing the study.

Section: Compensation

Investigators should clearly describe:

  • Type of compensation
  • Amount or range of compensation
  • Timing of payment
  • Whether partial payment is allowed
  • Conditions under which compensation may be withheld

Some crowdsourcing platforms allow investigators to reject submissions or deny payment. If so, investigators must explain:

  • Criteria for rejection, although investigators should practice caution on rejecting subjects
  • Whether participants will be informed of rejection procedures
  • How disputes will be handled

Compensation should not be structured in a way that is coercive or unduly influential.

Consent materials and recruitment language should accurately reflect payment information.

Section: Risks

Risk considerations particular to crowdsourced platforms when the following are involved:

  • Sensitive topics
  • Collection of identifiable information
  • Audio or video recordings
  • Minors or vulnerable populations
  • International participants
  • Location tracking
  • Collection of health information
  • Use of artificial intelligence tools
  • Deception or incomplete disclosure
  • Platform-based communication between participants

Section: Consent Documentation/Waivers

Describe:

  • How informed consent will occur
  • Whether participants must click through a consent page before beginning activities
  • Whether documentation of consent will be collected
  • Whether the platform itself collects identifiers

Consent language should clearly explain:

  • What information the platform may collect
  • Any limits to confidentiality
  • Payment procedures
  • Whether compensation may be withheld for incomplete responses
  • Any risks associated with online participation

Section: Confidentiality of Data

Crowdsourcing platforms may collect or retain information that investigators cannot fully control. Depending on the platform, participant identifiers may include:

  • Worker IDs
  • IP addresses
  • Payment account information
  • Device identifiers
  • Geolocation information
  • Platform usernames

Investigators should not assume that participation is anonymous simply because names are not collected. Some platforms maintain persistent identifiers that may allow responses to be linked back to individuals.

For example:

  • MTurk Worker IDs are identifiable information. Research suggests that they can be linked to the Amazon profiles of the participants. Investigators should avoid collecting Worker IDs unless necessary for study procedures such as participant compensation or debriefing.  
  • The consent form should clearly explain why Worker IDs are being collected.  
  • Online research platforms may collect information automatically, such as IP addresses, Worker IDs, geographic locations, or device information. Investigators should disclose any information collected directly or indirectly through the platform. 

Studies should clearly distinguish between:

  • Anonymous data  
  • De-identified data  
  • Coded data  
  • Identifiable data  

Investigators should explain:

  • What identifiers will be collected  
  • Whether identifiers will be stored with study data  
  • How identifiers will be separated or destroyed  
  • Whether third-party vendors may access participant information  

BYU investigators should use approved BYU data storage and security practices when storing research data.

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Regulatory References

  • 45 CFR 46  
  • Belmont Report  
  • OHRP Guidance on Internet Research  
  • BYU Human Research Protection Program Policy 

Resources

BYU Qualtrics
University of Pittsburgh Human Research Protection Office. “Crowdsourcing Platforms.”
University of the Incarnate Word HRPP. “HRPP Guidance for Crowdsourcing Tools.”
University of North Texas IRB SOP. “Conducting Research Using Crowdsourcing Platforms.”
University of Pittsburgh HRPO. “Electronic Data Security.”

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