REDCap
Overview:
REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture) is a secure web application for building and managing online surveys and databases. Using REDCap's stream-lined process for rapidly developing projects, users may create and design projects using:
- the online method from a web browser using the Online Designer; and/or
- the offline method by constructing a 'data dictionary' template file in Microsoft Excel, which can be later uploaded into REDCap
Both surveys and databases (or a mixture of the two) can be built using these methods. REDCap provides audit trails for tracking data manipulation and user activity, as well as automated export procedures for seamless data downloads to Excel, PDF, and common statistical packages (SPSS, SAS, Stata, R). Also included are a built-in project calendar, a scheduling module, ad hoc reporting tools, and advanced features, such as branching logic, file uploading, calculated fields and randomization. Several language translations have already been compiled for REDCap (e.g. Chinese, French, German, Portuguese), and it is anticipated that other languages will be available in full versions of REDCap soon.
Getting Started:
To get started, watch a brief introductory video from the REDCap Consortium, or login to REDCap directly.
More Information:
This service is part of the Communications and Collaboration and Research Data categories.
Summary
Availability:
- This is an active service
Eligibility:
- All Penn State faculty, staff, and research affilates
Requirements:
Information Security:
Data Security and Privacy in REDCap:
- Compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
- All data encrypted and stored on a secure server
- Access to database requires user authentication with password
- Role-based data access
- Logging and audit trails on all data interactions
All investigators are encouraged to use REDCap for capturing research data. All pilot projects supported by Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute funding are required to use REDCap for data capture or provide evidence to the privacy officer and data security officer that the system to be used for data capture is HIPAA-compliant.
Costs:
- REDCap is administered by Hershey Medical Center Research Informatics group and is made available to the Penn State Community through the Clinical and Translational Science Institute
Support:
- For support, please complete a REDCap service request form
- For users based at the Hershey Medical Center, please contact the Hershey REDCap team directly via e-mail