Paying research participants: A study of current practices in Australia

Abstract

Objective: To examine current research payment practices and to inform development of clearer guidelines for researchers and ethics committees. Design: Exploratory email based questionnaire study of current research participant reimbursement practices. A diverse sample of organisations and individuals were targeted. Setting: Australia. Participants: Contacts in 84 key research organisations and select electronic listservers across Australia. A total of 100 completed questionnaires were received with representations from a variety of research areas (for example, market, alcohol and drug, medical, pharmaceutical and social research). Main measurements: Open-ended and fixed alternative question..