REDCap Guides & How-To’s

Step-by-step guidance, best practices, and reference materials for building, managing, and maintaining REDCap projects at UConn Health.

Note: This page is currently being refreshed and expanded. Some supporting guides and downloadable resources may still be undergoing revision and reorganization.

What do you need help with?

Best Practices: Planning, governance, and study design guidance. View Guides →

Project Development: Build, configure, test, and prepare projects. View Guides →

Surveys & ASIs: Surveys, invitations, queues, and alerts. View Guides →

Logic & Calculations: Branching logic, calculations, and smart variables. View Guides →

eConsent Framework: Electronic consent and eHIPAA workflows. View Guides →

Production: Move to Production and manage changes. View Guides →

Advanced Tools: Longitudinal projects, API, MLM, MyCap, and more. View Guides →

Compliance & Security: IRB, HIPAA, identifiers, and data security. View Guides →


Best Practices

Review recommended strategies for project planning, compliance, data quality, governance, user management, and long-term project maintenance.


Project Development

Learn how to plan, build, configure, and test REDCap projects while aligning with IRB-approved study protocols and institutional requirements.


Surveys and Automated Survey Invitations (ASIs)

Build and distribute surveys, automate invitations and reminders, manage survey queues, and improve participant workflows.


Logic, Calculations & Smart Variables

Use branching logic, calculated fields, action tags, and smart variables to build more dynamic and automated REDCap workflows.


e-Consent Framework and eHIPAA

The REDCap eConsent Framework supports secure electronic consent workflows for both in-person and remote research participation.


Moving-to-Production and Making Production Changes

Prepare projects for Production, safely manage post-production changes, and maintain project integrity throughout the study lifecycle.


Advanced Tools & Specialized Features

Longitudinal Projects: Build projects with multiple visits, events, repeatable instruments, and study timelines. View Guide →

Identifiers & Sensitive Data: Guidance for handling identifiers, PHI, and confidentiality requirements. View Guide →

Optional Modules & Customization: Extend REDCap functionality with optional modules and custom features. View Guide →

NIH Data Sharing: Prepare REDCap data for NIH repositories and NDA submissions. View Guide →

Citing REDCap: Recommended citation language and REDCap publication references. View Resources →

Compliance, Security & Responsible Use

All REDCap projects must align with IRB-approved protocols, institutional policies, HIPAA requirements, and approved data management plans.

  • Only collect and store data approved by the IRB.
  • Limit user access to only those who require it.
  • Ensure identifiers and high-risk data are managed appropriately.
  • Include REDCap usage, eConsent, API use, MyCap, or mobile workflows in the approved study plan when applicable.
  • Test all workflows thoroughly before moving projects to Production.

 

Important: UConn Health’s current REDCap instance is not validated for 21 CFR Part 11 compliance and should not be used for FDA-regulated studies requiring Part 11-compliant electronic records or electronic signatures.

General Security Overview