A Guide to Research Etiquette

    A Guide to Research Etiquette

    Below are a five guidelines that will help the research process run more smoothly. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Subject Pool Coordinators at subject-pool-admin@stolaf.edu

    1.  Please arrive on time
    • If you sign up for an experiment, please show up on time! Sometimes tardiness may be unavoidable, but a study may be time-sensitive
    • Being late may block you from participating (and you will not get credit for the study).
    2. Show up
    • If you sign up for an experiment, please show up for it! Do not sign up for time slots that you are unsure of or know you will be unable to keep. This wastes the time of the researchers and makes signing up for studies more difficult for other students in the class.
    • You may be penalized for missing experiments that you have signed up for.
    3. Communicate Cancellations
    • If you have signed up for a time slot, but cannot keep the commitment due to a conflict, there are two options:
    • If you are aware of the conflict and it is less than 24 hours before your scheduled time slot, please email the researcher and let them know. Do not just erase your name from the Google document…  the researcher may be planning on your participation and end up waiting around for you at the experiment location, which is no fun for anyone.
    • If you are aware of the conflict and it is more than 24 hours before your scheduled time slot, it is OK to erase your name from the document, as this gives enough time for other students to sign up for that time.
    4. If you forget to show up…
    • If you miss an appointment, please do not go back to the Google document and delete your name. If you are still interested in participating in that study, you may want to sign up for another time slot, or contact the researcher about additional times.
    • Each time you do not show up for a study, the researchers will let the subject pool administration know; if research etiquette points are assessed for the course, this could negatively impact your grade.
    5. Be courteous to other users of the Google Document!
    • Please do not add time slots (the researchers may have limited time and may not be able to accommodate you)
    • Please do not delete or overwrite the name of another participant from any time slot (we can track who changed what when and will know who was responsible)
    • Please read the experiments carefully! Some may have specific requirements or procedures for your participation!