Who can use REDCap, and what projects can it be used for?
How do I obtain access to REDCap?
I can no longer log in. How do I restore my access?
How do I join (or add someone to) a REDCap project?
The Stony Brook Medicine REDCap system can be used for data collection projects led by SBU that are fully compliant with applicable regulations and our software license agreement with Vanderbilt University. Generally, these include research and quality improvement (QA/QI) projects officially sanctioned by a Stony Brook administrative body such as the IRB or Office of the CQO*. For further guidance on compliance requirements for your project, please reach out to the REDCap Support Team (email), SBU Office of Research Compliance, and HIPAA Privacy office (email).
*Please note that for auditing and support reasons, REDCap @ SBM should NOT be used to collect clinical data supporting clinical operations, regardless of whether the data will be used for research at some point in the future. The chain of customy (CoC) and single source of truth (SSoT) of all clinical operations data rests with the EHR and supporting systems.
Access to REDCap is tied to your Stony Brook Medicine (UHMC) domain account. To get started, log in at https://redcap.stonybrookmedicine.edu with your UHMC credentials, and register with your name and email.
Once you are registered, your collaborators will be able to grant you access to their projects.
To check if you have an active UHMC account or verify the UHMC username you would use to log in, give the SBM Help Desk a call at (631) 444-HELP [4357].
* Not to be confused with NetIDs, UHMC accounts grant access to Stony Brook *Medicine* computing resources. Therefore, your UHMC login credentials are different from your NetID. Additionally, UHMC accounts grant access to other SBM computing resources and are not exclusive to REDCap.
If this is your first time accessing REDCap, refer to your campus affiliation below:
If you are based at Stony Brook Medicine (SBM) and know your UHMC credentials, you may log in to REDCap here. To verify your UHMC username or set up your account password, contact the Help Desk at 631-444-HELP.
Note that if you have an SBM Outlook account, you should also have an associated UHMC login. If you do not yet have an UHMC or Outlook account, these accounts can be requested with a member of your department (e.g., a manager or administrator) with access to the SBM Computer Account Request System.
If you are based at Main Campus and you are unaffiliated with Stony Brook Medicine, please verify your account status with the SBM Help Desk before requesting an account:
Call the East Campus Help Desk at (631) 444-HELP [4357] to confirm if a UHMC account has been provisioned to you, and if your account is still active. If so, log in with your credentials at https://redcap.stonybrookmedicine.edu to get started. If you do not have an account issued to you, proceed to Step 2 below.
(If you have an active account but are still unable to log in, you may also need to reset your password with the Help Desk.)
If you do not (yet) have an active account, please refer to your faculty advisor/sponsor's campus affiliation to request access:
|
Campus Affiliation If your faculty advisor/sponsor is |
Path Then.. |
Next Steps Please.. |
| ...based at a *Stony Brook Medicine* department, |
Your faculty advisor's department at SBM will need to put in an account request for you as part of your onboarding. *UHMC accounts are not specific to REDCap and enable access to other East Campus resources. |
Contact your advisor or a department administrator for next steps. |
| ...based only at *Main Campus* department(s), | Main campus teams can request a domain account to access REDCap by writing to the SBM REDCap team from an SBU email address. |
In the request, be sure to (1) state the name of your project, your role/title, and faculty advisor/sponsor, (2) copy ('CC') your study P.I. or faculty advisor/sponsor's official SBU email address, (3) include your nine-digit SBU ID. * To manage account requests for members of a research group, a West Campus lab manager may submit a bulk request for new members needing accounts. This is usually done at the start of every semester. Be sure to list each person's name and nine-digit SBU ID and CC the study P.I. |
* Please note: All users requesting access must have active HR status. See below for more on "active status."
When your account is ready, you will receive a message in your inbox from the accounts team ("Your Computer Account Request.. Is Ready"). To set up your account,
1) read/accept the enclosed User Agreement (save the last page for your records),
2) call the East Campus HelpDesk at (631) 444-HELP [4357]. Ask to set up a "permanent " or "long-term" password for your UHMC account & confirm your account username,
3) log in to activate your REDCap account,
4) notify your collaborator(s) that you are ready to be added to their project(s).
* Please note: Your UHMC account is hosted in a different system (domain) from your NetID account. Note that your NetID credentials will -not- work with REDCap.
Important Note on REDCap & external projects: Before deciding to use REDCap to host a project with external collaborators, please note that our software license with Vanderbilt University generally prohibits "third-party hosting"—i.e., the hosting of projects for use by an outside facility. The one exception is if the projects are multisite research studies **either led by SBU or in which SBU is designated as the data coordinating center (DAC)**. If your project will involve external facilities, collaborators, or study participants, before getting started, please reach out to the REDCap Support Team to ensure your use case is permitted under our licensing agreement. Unfortunately, we will not be able to assist with studies that are in breach of our software license and will require all such activity to cease once it is discovered.
To onboard an outside collaborator, a study team may sponsor the collaborator for an affiliate SBM computer (UHMC) account. The study must already be cleared by the SBU IRB and HIPAA Privacy Office for the type of collaboration and data sharing being sought, where said collaborators are listed on the approved IRB protocol and/or fully executed DUA.
The corresponding project in REDCap should also be moved to production (meeting all documentation requirements) before collecting "real" study data. Please note that the activities of outside collaborators in REDCap is the responsibility of the SBU investigator.
To begin, the study team will need to (1) work with the collaborator to complete the "SBMIT External Vendor Form"; (2) submit it electronically via the Cherwell Ticketing System ("SecureLink" menu option) to have the collaborator entered — or updated — in SBU's system of record; and (3) work with an administrator or manager at your department to place a UHMC account request via the SBM Computer Account Request System.
Once the account requestor receives an account provisioning email from the ID team ("Your Computer Account Request.. Is Ready" - be sure to check the *spam* folder), the requestor should relay to the user: (i) the email alert along with (ii) the user's new 9-digit ID, and (iii) directions to log in to REDCap. The requestor should also notify REDCap Administrators to whitelist the collaborator's institutional email domain allowing the collaborator to set up their account in REDCap.
If needed, the REDCap support team can also serve as the go-between to submit these requests. To proceed, the coordinator of the study or project should write to the REDCap support team from an organizational email account describing the project and the collaborators needing access. Please include: roles of each collaborator, if the project will capture any protected health information (PHI), and if the external collaborator(s) are listed on the study's approved IRB protocol.
In most cases, you will lose access to REDCap when your SBM account or login password has expired.
Password Expiration
Your account password will expire every 180 days (six months), as per SBM policy.
When your password expires, you will be locked out of REDCap until it is reset. You may also be locked out for up to 30 minutes when the system detects too many incorrect login attempts with your username. To reset your password or unlock your account, please see the Password Reset instructions in the next section.
Account Deactivation
Your account's deactivation schedule depends on your affiliation:
- Main Campus student accounts usually deactivate on the last day of the semester.
- East Campus (SBM) student accounts deactivate on the anticipated end date of your program.
- Faculty/staff accounts deactivate on the date of termination.
- External collaborator / volunteer accounts deactivate on the earlier of: (A) the anniversary of your last account renewal, and (B) the end date of your appointment.
Your account may also deactivate due to
- No account activity detected (For instance, if you haven't logged in for over 180 days or six months.)
- Violation of the SBM Computer Account terms of use. (For instance, if it is determined that your credentials have been compromised, or if suspicious activity is detected on your account.)
To check on the status of your account, please get in touch with the SBM Help Desk at (631) 444-HELP [4357].
There may be several reasons for loss of access:
- Your account password has expired and needs to be reset,
- You have entered incorrect username or password credentials, -or-
- Your account is no longer active,
- You are not visiting the Stony Brook Medicine instance of REDCap.
To confirm the issue(s) with your UHMC account, give a call to the SBM Help Desk: (631) 444-HELP [4357].
(For more information, see section: Why did I lose access?)
If (a) your password has expired, (b) you no longer recall your password, or (c) you are locked out due to too many incorrect login attempts, the SBM Help Desk can help you restore your access by reactivating your UHMC account.
You can reach the Help Desk at (631) 444-HELP [4357].
Be sure to ask for a "permanent" or "long-term" UHMC account password (rather than a temporary one that expires on first use), as REDCap does not provide support for logging in with temporary Windows credentials.
Once your password is reset or your account is unlocked, if your account is otherwise in good standing, your access to REDCap (and other applications in the SBM network) should be restored.
If you have access to an SBM Outlook email inbox, you should also be able to reset your password more conveniently, via self-service password reset.
If your account is no longer active:
- ...an External collaborator, your SBU sponsor must state that you are still active on the research protocol.
- ...Faculty/Staff or Volunteer, your HR appointment must be up to date.
- ...a Student, you must be enrolled in classes or officially completing your program.
- (If you are a recent graduate staying on in a volunteer capacity, you can obtain an Official Volunteer appointment with your department to retain your active status and renew your account.)
Next:
|
Campus Affiliation ...If your faculty *advisor* is |
Process Then.. |
Next Steps Please.. |
| ...based at a *Stony Brook Medicine* department, |
Your advisor's department at SBM can request a renewal for you as part of your onboarding/re-boarding process. *UHMC accounts are not specific to REDCap and enable access to other East Campus resources. |
Contact your advisor or a department administrator for next steps. |
| ...based only at *Main Campus* department(s), | Main campus teams can request an account renewal to restore their REDCap access by writing to the SBM REDCap team from an SBU email address. |
In the request email, be sure to (1) include your role/title and 9-digit SBU ID, (2) CC your P.I. or faculty advisor's official SBU email. * To manage account renewals for members of a research group, a West Campus lab manager may submit a bulk request for new members needing renewals. This is usually done at the start of every semester. Be sure to list each person's name and nine-digit SBU ID. |
* Please note: UHMC accounts can only be extended through the last date of an individual's official appointment (or enrollment).
For new collaborators:
To join a REDCap project, begin by logging in to REDCap with your UHMC account credentials. Once you are registered, your collaborators will be able to add you to the project.
For project managers:
To add a colleague to your project, assuming they are fully compliant—e.g., listed on the IRB protocol, CITI trained & certified, etc.:
- Your colleague is required to complete an initial login with their UHMC account credentials to create their REDCap account. (For more on UHMC accounts, see "How do I get access to REDCap?" above.)
- If you have sufficient privileges, you can then add your colleague from the User Rights page on the Left Pane and grant them the appropriate role-based access rights.
For an overview of the different User Rights that can be assigned, please refer to the REDCap FAQ item, "What are the User Rights that can be granted/restricted?" (link).
Aside from the requirements above, we suggest granting "User Rights" access to two or more employee-level users to your project.Because data is often sensitive, REDCap administrators are unable to step in and add users to a project if the project is orphaned due to students, residents, fellows, interns, etc. leaving the team.
* Important: In REDCap, user access to individual projects is managed by the project team rather than system-wide REDCap administrators. As such, each project is expected to have one or more individuals responsible for managing project access rights. To ensure a project remains accessible long-term, and prevent it from being "orphaned" due to employee/student turnover, a project's P.I. or faculty-level director is strongly recommended to complete a one-time login to REDCap and be granted "User Rights" privileges to the project. Additionally we suggest moving the project to production mode to safeguard your data from corruption and ensure long-term accessibility. Since projects in REDCap are built and run on a self-service basis, and due to confidentiality risks, access can only be granted by existing project users with 'User Rights' privileges.