Scientific Computing and Data / Research Data Services / About REDCap

About REDCap

Vanderbilt’s REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture) is a secure web application for building and managing online surveys and databases. REDCap provides:

  • Audit trails for tracking data manipulation and user activity
  • Automated export procedures for seamless data downloads to Excel, PDF, and common statistical packages (SPSS, SAS, Stata, R)
  • A built-in project calendar
  • A scheduling module
  • Ad hoc reporting tools
  • Advanced design features, such as branching logic, file uploading, and calculated fields

Learn more about REDCap capabilities and features here.

At this time, our REDCap installation is not validated for 21 CFR Part 11 compliance.

Note on REDCap API tokens: all API token requests now require contacting us as a first step.

REDCap is supported by grant UL1TR004419 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health.

Acknowledging Scientific Computing and Data and the CTSA

An acknowledgement of support from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) grant UL1TR004419 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences is required by NIH to appear in a publication of any material, whether copyrighted or not, based on or developed with Mount Sinai-supported computing resources including REDCap:

Please use the following acknowledgement in your publications:

“This work was supported in part through the computational and data resources and staff expertise provided by Scientific Computing and Data at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and supported by the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) grant UL1TR004419 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences.”

To associate the CTSA grant UL1TR004419 to an existing publication, please follow these instructions from the NIH (see the section “Associating Funding to your Publications”).

 

Pricing

(See also: REDCap FAQ)

The 2024 rate will continue to be $100/year for all projects older than 90 days.

All long-term projects (>90 days), regardless of their status (development, production, analysis, or completed/archived) are subject to the chargeback fee. With this change, you will benefit from scheduled 1:1 support and increased data protection when projects are moved to “production” mode. Paid projects will also be automatically backed up. Finance and Compliance approved this rate. If you intend to keep your project more than 90 days, you must provide a fund number, see section on Submitting Fund Numbers below.

Not all projects will need a fund number:

  • 54% of all projects are used for less than 90 days (for example, one-time or short-term surveys), so none of these projects will incur a chargeback fee
  • Medical student, hospital QI and hospital operations projects will be paid directly by MSHS

New projects for 90 days, and Paid projects have access to:

  • REDCap service desk support for all REDCap projects (Development or Production)
  • Scheduled 1:1 assistance via Zoom to answer any project questions.

Other notes:

  • Paid projects are backed up on our system
  • If you have Project Design & Setup user rights, you can view the project creation date on the Project Revision History page

Project Builds:

  • Additionally, custom project builds and clinical data pull costs are based on estimated hours of work and paid via salary support

Project Locking and Deletion:

  • Starting February 1, 2024, unpaid projects older than 90 days will be locked
  • To avoid locking, a project creator/contact must provide a fund number for payment after 90 days for Research and Faculty Practice Associates (FPA) Operations projects. Medical Student, hospital Quality Improvement (QI) and Hospital Operations projects will be paid directly by MSHS
  • For unlocking OFFLINE projects, see the following section
  • Unpaid projects will be deleted one year after the initial date of creation. All unpaid projects (older than 1 year) will be deleted on July 1, 2024. Instructions on how to download your project data are available at this link

Submitting Fund Numbers for REDCap Projects

(See also: REDCap FAQ)

Instructions for providing a fund number, when required, for a REDCap project for the 2024 annual fee:

Note: if you have a Sinai Cloud number please convert it to GEAC by using the following tool: http://coa.mountsinai.org/ 

For new projects (created on or after July 1, 2023):

When creating a new REDCap project, you will enter basic project information and have the opportunity to enter a fund number (with the exception of MD student, hospital QI and hospital operations projects paid directly by MSHS). The first 90 days are fee-free and do not require a fund number.

After you submit your project information, you will be emailed a custom link with a return code. To later enter or update the fund number or other project information, you must use the custom link with the return code that was sent to your email.

 

To unlock OFFLINE projects:

Locked REDCap projects will be tagged with a red label of “OFFLINE”. You will have the opportunity to unlock a project by taking these two steps:

1. Submit basic REDCap project information, and a fund number for payment when required, at this link.** (Research and Faculty Practice Associates (FPA) Operations projects require a fund number, while Medical student, hospital Quality Improvement (QI) and Hospital Operations projects will be paid directly by MSHS.).

2. Contact REDCap support and provide the project ID from step 1. and request the project be unlocked.

**After you submit your project information, you will be emailed a custom link with a return code. To later enter or update the fund number or other project information, you must use the custom link with the return code that was sent to your email.

For people who oversee payment for more than 10 REDCap projects, please contact us and we will provide a method for collecting lists of project IDs and fund numbers.

You will have until July 1, 2024, or one full year after the project creation date (whichever is later), to unlock a project before it is deleted from our system.

Backing up and Deleting Projects

See our guide for steps to take for backing up and deleting projects.

 

REDCap Accounts

All REDCap users must have their own accounts. All Mount Sinai Hospital and School users automatically have access to REDCap and can log in to https://redcap.mountsinai.org with their Mount Sinai username and password. Please note that any user’s first login will require users to verify their email.

Only users with a Mount Sinai account can access REDCap.

REDCap Accounts for External Users and Collaborators

Only users with a Mount Sinai account can access REDCap. External users (without Mount Sinai credentials) must have their PI or other sponsor/delegate request an account on their behalf.

The PI or other sponsor/delegate must:

  1. Use Sailpoint to request to create a Non-Employee account for the collaborator. We recommend choosing person type “External Researcher.” (See instructions here.)
  2. Once approved, the PI or other sponsor/delegate will receive an email notification informing them that the SailPoint request is complete. This email will contain a Mount Sinai Login ID and Password for the collaborator, which must be provided to them.

Then, the Collaborator must:

  1. Navigate to https://mshmsvpn.mssm.edu to change their password
  2. Change their Mount Sinai Password
  3. Navigate to https://redcap.mountsinai.org
  4. Log in with their Mount Sinai Login ID and new Password
  5. Upon first login, the Collaborator will be prompted to verify their email address. Note: use an active email address.
  6. Collaborators can then create new projects or be added to existing projects by the project owners.

Please note: Collaborator accounts are temporary and will expire at 120 days, however they can be renewed by the PI or other sponsor/delegate prior to the expiration date.

For assistance on password issues, reach out to the IT Helpdesk:
By Phone: 1-212-241-7091
Via email: ASCIT@mssm.edu 

Questions about accounts and access can be submitted as a ticket.

 

REDCap Support Materials

Guide to backing up and deleting projects

REDCap FAQ

REDCap 14.0 Release Notes

Scientific Computing and Data hosts REDCap Town Hall and Training sessions that are open to current and prospective REDCap users. Here are the session archives:

 

REDCap User Feedback

Every year we ask REDCap users for feedback on the functions and features of REDCap and solicit recommendations for improvement over time. Here are some specific recommendations and comments from REDCap users:

REDCap Quick Links