Seven mistakes that cost participants time and money

• Travel

  Spending big on travel before you’re confirmed

  In the author’s first study, nine people who had flown in from Florida, Louisiana and Texas were sent home. They’d flown out for screening, flown back for check-in, and were then turned away because the site had them as backups.

  Instead

  Book refundable travel, ask how many alternates are screened per spot, and favor sites you can reach cheaply. Budget airlines can help for some routes.

• Backups

  Assuming screening means you’re in

  Sites often screen more people than they need. Alternates may be paid a few hundred dollars for showing up, not the advertised amount.

  Instead

  Call as early as possible. Early screeners are more likely to be chosen to dose. Ask what alternates are paid.

• Screening

  Losing your spot between screening and check-in

  Two months can pass between your first call and the study start. If anything changes with your health in that window, you may have to start over.

  Instead

  Follow the site’s instructions on medications, alcohol, exercise and diet, and keep your schedule open around the check-in date.

• Follow-ups

  Overlooking follow-up visits

  Some studies come with many in-person follow-ups, which add travel and time and can be required for full payment.

  Instead

  Ask exactly how many follow-ups there are, whether any can be done by phone, and when they’re scheduled.

• Payment

  Counting on the money arriving quickly

  Even when everything goes right, the author found it could take about three months from first call to payment.

  Instead

  Don’t plan urgent expenses around study pay. Get the payment schedule in writing.

• Compensation

  Taking “compensated” at face value

  Many listings say a study is compensated, and it turns out to be $500 or less for a lot of time.

  Instead

  Ask for the dollar amount and per-visit breakdown before screening. Use sites that show pay, or tools that sort by compensation.

• Sources

  Trusting a search tool over the research site

  Studies move quickly and aggregators can lag. The author found search results that pointed to studies better checked at the source.

  Instead

  Use search tools to discover who runs studies near you, then go to that organization’s own website or call them.

Want a structured way to check all of this? Use the participation checklist or the compensation planner.