Standard Operating Procedure
Compensation
Research participants can be paid from the CAS imprest cash (bank) account that will be replenished from a Researcher identified account. How the subject is paid (cash, check, or gift card) is up to the Researcher. Imprest cash is a check and receipt system. Checks are written to individuals and receipts are used to process a requisition to replenish the account from the specified account. Please complete the attached “Request for Use of CAS Imprest Cash Funds” and submit to the CAS Business Office, along with a copy of your IRB approval and other documents within the “Conditions for Use” below. Each requisition completed requires the “Documentation of Disbursement or Payments to Research Study Participants” form signed by the Researcher (please sign on both the Researcher line and Primary Principal Investigator line). Return this form to the CAS Business Office. Copies will be made and the blanks will be filled in as needed for the requisition. Participants cannot be paid until after the completion of the research. The following details are to be followed to assure funds are available for continued use. The documentation is necessary to process the requisition.
Researcher Responsibility
Regardless of Compensation form, it is the Researcher’s responsibility to:
- Ensure the confidentiality of the participant
- Compensate the participant in a timely and convenient manner
- Maintain adequate financial information to meet recordkeeping and reporting requirements of the University, State of Oklahoma, and the Internal Revenue Service
Conditions for the Use of Cash
- Check will be provided to the Researcher at the time of the request
- Imprest cash receipt will be written under the Researcher’s name
- • Researcher is responsible for cashing the check, distributing the funds to the participant, keeping a log of all payments, and giving the participant a receipt for the payment
- Upon completion of activity, all receipt(s) and any leftover money is to be delivered to the CAS Business Office to be deposited back into the account
- Accountant will process requisition to replenish the account used
- Items needed to process requisition: Research study participant form, IRB approval, imprest cash receipt, any receipts given to participant
Conditions for the Use of Checks
- Provide an envelope with department postage code addressed to the participant
- Check will be written to the individual listed on the envelope and sent in the mail
- Imprest cash receipt will be created as backup documentation to process a requisition to replenish the account
- Items needed to process requisition: Research study participant form, IRB approval, imprest cash receipt
Conditions for the Use of Gift Cards
In lieu of monetary remuneration, gift cards may be given to research participants as compensation for services performed. Advance approval is required, and the following conditions must be met:
- Gift cards may only be purchased from externally-funded grant accounts. (Gift cards may not be purchased from state-funded accounts.)
- Gift card purchases must be approved in advance by the College of Arts and Sciences and the Associate Vice President and Controller’s Office
- When submitting the request, provide the CAS Business Office with a copy of the IRB and a memo stating the reason for using gift cards as opposed to other forms of compensation
- Once approved, a check will be written to the Researcher to purchase the gift cards
- Researcher is responsible for purchasing and providing the gift card to the participant
- All receipts must be returned to CAS Business Office to process the requisition to replenish the account used
- Items needed to process requisition: Research study participant form, list of research participants (unless confidential), IRB approval, imprest cash receipt, gift card receipts
- For gift cards valued greater than $100, the researcher must use the “Research Participant Payment Form for Participant Compensation Greater than $100”.
