Payment of Human Research Subjects

Procedure for the Payment of Human Subjects when Involved in Research

When conducting research, participants may be paid as a means of establishing trust or rapport with the informants, maintaining anonymity, reducing risk of invasion, or simply to encourage participation in the research.

If you are doing any research in which you are paying human subjects $20 or less to participate, the following payment procedure must be followed:    (If the payments are greater than $20, each participant must be issued a check.)                                  

  1. A direct payment form must be completed by a faculty member--either the Principal Investigator (PI) or the PI’s advisor, if the PI is a student.
    1. Specify on the purchase requisition the number of participants and the amount to be paid to each (i.e. 10 participants at $20 each). 
    2. On the purchase requisition, include this statement: "The name, home address, amount received, date of payment, and social security number of the paid research participants will be collected and submitted to the Business and Financial Services Office immediately upon completion of payment."
    3. Obtain the signature of the department’s account manager on the requisition.
    4. Submit the requisition to the Business and Financial Services Office, Rm. 125 Administration Bldg.
    5. A check will be issued in the faculty member’s name.  The faculty member will cash the check and the PI will use the money to pay the participants.
    6. Do not pay an individual until after he/she has fully completed participation in the research project.
  2. The selection process of participants must be explained in the research protocol. (i.e. to ensure you are not giving money to your friends)
  3. Each participant must put his/her name, home address, date of payment, and social security number on a form that explains the reason for and the amount of the payment.  This form must be kept confidential and separate from any research project data.  This is done to comply with federal requirements for tracking taxable payments to individuals, and to ensure that the individuals received the dollars indicated.
  4. The faculty member who received the check is responsible for submitting the forms with each participant’s name, home address, amount received, date of payment, and social security number to the Business and Financial Services Office.  The faculty member and/or the PI will keep no record of this information.
  5. If the Business and Financial Services Office does not receive this information from the faculty member within sixty(60) days of the payment, the payment will be treated as a taxable payment to the faculty member. 
  6. Sample payment information collection form:

 

The information you provide will be kept confidential and will be submitted to UW-Stout’s Business and Financial Services Office to comply with federal requirements. 

I declare I received payment in the amount of $20.00 for my full participation in a research project.  

Date________________________________________________   

Name_______________________________________________

Signature____________________________________________ 

Home Address______________________________________________

  ____________________________________________________                           

Social Security Number______________________________________________

 

April 2001 Developed Collaboratively by Research Services and Business & Financial Services--Updated 12.18.2009