New Features

• Code comments
  • Add comments to code in logic or calculations while in the logic editor to explain in plain language what the code is doing.
  • Begin comment by using // or #.
  • Comment must be on its own line in the logic editor, i.e., not included in the middle of a line of code.

Changes & Features

• Survey Queue and Automated Survey Invitations
  • The drop-down for the “When the following survey is completed” setting in the dialog now has a search feature to easily find a specific survey in a long list by starting to type the survey name.

• REDCap training requirements apply to scholarly projects as they would to any other study.
  • Basics training is required to request a project.
  • If the project will include Survey functionality, the point person will need to complete both Basics and Survey training.
  • Training is not currently offered outside of the regularly scheduled sessions listed on the OCTRI website and the REDCap Team does not provide one-on-one training sessions. 
• The point person/builder of the scholarly project and the PI are responsible for ensuring that the project adheres to the data collection plan described in the protocol.
• Consent and e-consent requirements apply as with any other study.
  • For example, in a minimal risk study an Information Sheet is needed, and is considered a type of consent form.
• The PI should be added to the project as a user.

New Features

• File Repository Re-Design
  • New options to create folders and sub-folders.
  • If using Data Access Groups or user roles, new option to limit access to a new folder based on a DAG or role.
  • New new drag-n-drop feature for uploading multiple files.
  • New API methods also exist that allow users to upload, download, and delete files programmatically using the API.
  • New built-in Recycle Bin folder that makes it easy to restore files that have been deleted.
    • Files that are deleted from the File Repository will be put in the Recycle Bin folder where they will be kept for up to 30 days before being permanently deleted.

Changes & Features

• Alerts & Notifications
  • Permission for Alerts & Notifications is no longer inherited via the assigning the Project Design and Setup user right, and is now assigned as a separate user right.
  • New set up option for when to send alert added to Step 2: "the day (beginning at midnight) that the alert was triggered" (in the sub-option “Send the alert X days Y hours Z minutes before/after [drop-down]”), which drop-down allows users to schedule the notification based on the day the alert was triggered and provides greater control and precision with regard to when exactly the notification will be sent.
• Descriptive Text fields can accomodate inline PDF attachments that display as an embedded PDF.
• Logging
  • The record id has been added as separate column/attribute in CSV an API exports the project logging file.
  • When a user creates, edits, copies, or deletes a report the list of all fields in the report is included in the logged event.
• New content to added toe Help & FAQ section.

New Features

No new features.

Changes & Features

Bug fixes.

New Features

Download all files on a report

• Download Files button added to reports that contain File Upload fields or Signature fields to all the report’s uploaded files into a single zip file for those fields for the records in the report.

Changes & Features

Bug fixes

New Features

No new features.

Changes & Features

Bug fixes

New Features

• Repeating Automated Survey Invitations (ASI)

  • Set an ASI to send any repeating survey on a recurring basis.
  • Repeating ASI's can be configured on a repeating survey instrument, or on a survey that's part of a repeating event.
  • The repeating ASI setting is configured in the ASI setup window in a new section titled "How many times to send it?"
    • Set the survey invitation to repeat at a regular interval, either indefinitely or for a specific number of times.
  • NOTE: The survey must be a repeating survey in order for the "How many times to send it?" option to show up on the ASI setup window.

• New smart variable 

  • [new-instance]
    • Using the [new-instance] smart variable creates a URL pointing to the next in a series of repeating surveys.
    • [form-link/url][new-instance] creates the next in a series of repeating forms.
    • [survey-link/url][new-instance] creates the next in a series of repeating forms.
    • [survey-link:instrument][new-instance] could be used in a recurring Alert to allow a participant to easily enter data in a repeating survey.

Changes & Improvements

• Automated Survey Invitations (ASI)

  • The selection to make an ASI Active or Not Active is now located at the top right of the ASI window, rather than the bottom right.
  • A new option in "When to send invitations AFTER conditions are met" is available in the dropdown called "the same day (beginning at midnight) that the automated invitation was triggered."
    • It allows more control over when the invitation will go out using midnight of the day the ASI is scheduled as the baseline.
    • Simply add time to midnight of the day the ASI is scheduled to specify when the invitation is sent.

• Action Tags

  • The red "Action Tags" button was added inside the Logic Editor window to make it easier to reference the Action Tags documentation while writing logic for Automated Survey Invitations, Survey Queue, etc.

• Participant List

  • A Survey Response Status of "Anonymous" or "Not Anonymous" has been added to the Participant List screen to provide a visual queue of how data is being collected due to the way the project has been set up. There is additional documentation available on the screen to help give context and guidance.

• Instrument .zip Importing

  • Stop Action settings and Video Display Format settings (in Descriptive Text fields with videos) are now included when downloading and importing an instrument .zip from one project to another.

New Features

No new features.

Improvements/Changes

• Hyperlinks created in the rich text editor will now default to being opened in a new tab/window.
• When deleting unsent/scheduled survey invitations via the Survey Invitation Log, the checkbox "Permanently cancel these invitations?" in the delete invitation dialog now defaults to being unchecked.

New Features

Survey Settings

• Survey Customizations
  • Extra space on the left of questions removed when Custom Numbered selecting for Question Numbering setting
  • New option added to Required Fields setting to display only a red asterisk.
  • New setting to show or hide the Submit (and related) buttons.
  • New setting modify the text of the Submit, Next page and Previous page buttons.
• Survey Design Options
  • New survey setting allows users to set a custom width of the survey displayed on the page between 50% and 100%. The default value for the setting is “Fixed width (default)”.
  • New survey setting allows users to display or hide the font resize icons at the top of the survey page. By default, it is set to display the font resize options.
• Improvement for Mobile
  • When participants take a survey on a mobile device, the survey page will auto-scroll whenever selecting a value for a drop-down or radio button field.

Improvements

•  Record Drop-Down List (on Add/Edit Records, and filters for Logging, Data Quality, Survey Invitation Log, etc)

  • For projects with more than 5000 records, drop-down record list  revert to displaying an auto-suggest textbox to allow the user to manually enter the record name (rather than attempting to display an extremely long drop-down). This should make these pages load much faster and also make them easier to use in projects containing many records.
    
    

• User Management

  • External User Passwords 
    • Password recovery questions are no longer used in the process of resetting a password. To reset a password, REDCap will use a a two factor authentication via email.
  • Hide/Show Suspended Accounts
    • A new button has been added to the user rights to hide or show the users who's REDCap accounts have been suspended.

Changes & Improvements

• Action Tags

  • @PLACEHOLDER action tag accepts pipin - e.g., @PLACEHOLDER="[first_name] [last_name]".

• Codebook

  • Field finder added to search the Codebook for a variable name, phrase or keyword.
  • Floating header and clickable up arrow added to support better scrolling.

• Help & FAQ

  • Hyperlinks for each sub-section have been added to the top of each section.

• Online Designer

  • A clickable Up arrow has been added to the bottom right of a form to allow a project builder to easily navigate to the top of the form.

• Participant List

  • New option added to Compose Survey Invitations feature to auto-select participants who have not responded or submitted a partial response.

New Features

• Action Tags

  •  @FORCE-MINMAX
    • Enforce a range of values that can be entered in a field.
    • Supported for textbox fields that have a validation range with a min/max component, i.e. integer, number, date or time validations.
    • Impacts all collection mechanisms, i.e. data entry, importing data, completing surveys. 
    • Applying this action tag for a field means no one will not be able to enter a value into the field unless it is within the field's specified validation range.
  • @IF
    • Create conditional logic for configuring other action tag(s).
    • Uses normal syntax logic to evaluate a condition and implement specific action tag(s) based on whether that condition is true or false, i.e. @IF(CONDITION, ACTION TAGS if condition is TRUE, ACTION TAGS if condition is FALSE)
    • For example, @IF([yes_no] = '1', @HIDDEN, @HIDE-CHOICE='3' @READ-ONLY), implements @HIDDEN if the 'yes_no' field's value is '1', otherwise if the 'yes_no' is not 1, it implements the two action tags @HIDE-CHOICE='3' and @READ-ONLY. 
    • Supports: 1) multiple instances of @IF for a single field, 2) nested instances of @IF() inside each other, and 3) Smart Variables.

• Additional Customization

  • Protected Email Mode
    • Security enhancement to prevent identifying data (PHI/PII) from being sent in outgoing emails for alerts, survey invitations, and survey confirmation emails.
    • In Protected Email Mode, the full text of an email message is replaced with a surrogate email that contains a link to a secure page in REDCap for the recipient to view the full text of the email message.
      
      • The first time a recipient accesses a Protected Email Mode email on a specific device, REDCap emails a security code to the recipient to access the secure page in REDCap. The code expires in 30 days and is unique to the device.
    • Enable and configure Protected Email Mode via Project Setup > Optional Modules and Customizations > Additional Customizations button.
    • Configuration options:
      • Apply to all A) alerts, survey invitations, and survey confirmation emails or B) only emails where piping data from Identifier fields into the message or subject
      • Customize email header and page header seen by the recipient.
      • Add logo to email header and page header.

• Exporting

  • Blank Values for Gray Form/Instrument Status
    • Export an empty form status field as a blank value.
      • The empty form status is indicated by the grey icon in any of the data entry grids, i.e. Record Status Dashboard, Record Home Page, or form links in the the left hand navigation menu, and by default exports as 0 for raw data exports or incomplete for labeled data exports
    • Select to export the empty form status/grey instrument status as a blank value via Data export dialog > Advanced data formatting options > Export blank values for gray Form Status? drop-down option.
    • Exporting empty form status/gray instrument statuses as blank values is recommended if the data will be re-imported into REDCap.
    • Corresponding default behaviors
      • Empty form status exported as a blank value in in Project XML metadata or data files, the option to export gray instrument status as a blank value will be preselected by default,
      • Empty form status exported as 0 (raw data) or incomplete (labeled data export) in all other exports.
  • Instrument-Level Data Export Rights/Permissions
    • Assign a user's data export permissions at the form level.
      • For each data collection instrument/form, assign a user one of the following export permissions: No Access", "De-Identified", "Remove All Identifier Fields", or "Full Data Set" data export rights.
      • Assigning export permissions is similar in execution to assigning Data Viewing Rights.
      • Assigning export permissions at the form level facilitates assigning a user with export permission that correspond to their with their Data Viewing permissions.
    • This replaces project level export permissions (which was supported in previous versions of REDCap).
      • As part of the upgrade, users export project permissions have been converted to corresponding form level permissions, i.e. if a user was assigned permission to export de-identified data, the user will have de-identified data export permissions on all instruments/forms. Thus, their export privileges will behave exactly the same as before.
    • Default Behaviors
      • When adding a new data collection instrument/form to a project in development status, all users will automatically be assigned "Full Data Set" data export permission for that new instrument/form.
      • When adding a new data collection instrument/form to a project in production, all users will automatically be assigned "No Access" data export rights for the new instrument/form. 
    • Related Improvements
      • The instrument/form count for Data Viewing and Data Export permissions, e.g., “3 No access, 2 Full Data Set”, is included in the User Rights page table that lists all users and their permission, 
      • When adding/editing a user’s or user role’s permission, you can click the table headers for each Data Export setting or Data Viewing setting to apply that setting for all instruments in the project.

• Field Validation

  • Dynamic Min/Max Range Limits
    • Two mechanism for dynamic ranges
      1. Enter  "today" or "now" as a min or max value.
         1. Use these this so that the current date or time is always captured
         2. This means a user or participant could not enter a date/time n the past or in the future. 
      2. Pipe a value from another field into the field's min or max range setting, e.g., [visit_date] or [event_1_arm_1][age]
         1. Use this when you need to capture a value in a field has a larger or smaller value than another field.
    • Supported for textbox fields that have a validation range with a min/max component, i.e. integer, number, date or time validations.
    • Impacts all collection mechanisms, i.e. data entry, importing data, completing surveys. 
  • Time (HH:MM:SS)
    • Force users/participants to enter a time value that contains the hour, minute, and second components.
    • Supported for textbox fields.
    • Impacts all collection mechanisms, i.e. data entry, importing data, completing surveys. 

• Form Display Logic

  • A form-level branching logic tool that supports using conditional logic to disable/enable accessing specific forms/instruments during data entry.
  • Impacts Record Status Dashboard, Record Home Page, and the form list on the left-hand menu.
    
    • Does not impact Importing.
    • Does not impact the Survey queue.
  • Use this tool to prevent users from entering data on a specific form or event until certain conditions have been met. 
  • Find this tool via Project Setup tab > Online Designer > Form Display Logic button at the top of the form/instrument list.
  • This is an advanced and optional tool.
    
    • Review documentation in REDCap for nuances regarding its functionality.
  • Configuration requires using syntax for conditional logic.
  • Configuration should be thoroughly tested and vetted during development.

• Surveys

  • Conditional Logic for Auto-Continue Survey Setting
    • Add conditional logic to trigger automatically continuing from one survey to the next.
      • This means REDCap will auto-continue to the next survey *only* if the conditional logic is evaluated to TRUE or if conditional logic has not been configured.
    • Impacts survey set up and collecting survey responses.
    • This functionality is similar to Survey queue functionality but simpler to configure and a better alternative to setting up the Queue as long as complex survey/form event level configurations are not required.
  • Survey Start Time with Corresponding Smart Variables
    • Track when a participant began a survey.
      • The survey start time corresponds to the first time the survey is opened (as a web page).
      • The survey start time is not collected for surveys completed before this upgrade.
    • View the survey start time for partial or completed response by opening the response as as form. The survey start time displayed at the the top of the form.
      • If the start time is a blank value, it implies that the response began while on an earlier version of REDCap when start times were not yet collected.
    • Related Smart Variables
      • Reference the survey start time via piping by using following two Smart Variables: [survey-time-started:instrument] and [survey-date-started:instrument].
      • Survey duration 
        • [survey-duration] captures the difference between the survey's start time and either its 1) completion time (if completed) or 2) the current time (if not completed)
        • [survey-duration-completed] represents the difference between the survey's start time and completion time, in which a blank value will be returned if the survey has not been completed.

Changes & Improvements

• Codebook Access

  • A button to open the Codebook in a floating popup window has been added inside the Logic Editor popup.

• Events

  • The auto-generated event ID number has been added to the Define My Events table.
  • The event id number can be referenced via it's corresponding Smart Variable [event-number].

• Help & FAQ

  • Reformatted the layout for to make the page easier to use.

If you are building a REDCap project for a multi-site study that will support data entry by external collaborators, and there are data sharing agreements restricting each site’s access to data, please explore the Data Access Groups feature in your project. Learn more about Data Access Groups by watching this video: https://redcap.vanderbilt.edu/consortium/videoplayer.php?video=data_access_groups02.mp4&referer=octri.ohsu.edu&title=Data%20Access%20Groups

New Features

• Action Tags

  • @RICHTEXT
    • Add a rich text editor toolbar to a notes field to enable data entry users and or participants to styling and format text they enter in the field.

• User Management

  • Upload and download users and roles and their permissions, and user role assignments via CSV files.

Changes & Improvements

• Data Dictionary Revisions

  • Compare data dictionary snapshots functionality added to the Project Revision History page.

• PDF File Archive

  • Download all PDF files functionality added to the PDF Survey Archive. 

• User Permissions

  • When a form is added to a project in production, users are no longer automatically assigned View & Edit rights to the new form.

New Features

• Action Tags

  • @DOWNLOAD-COUNT
    • Automatically count the number of downloads for a File Upload field or a Descriptive field attachment. 
  • @MAXCHOICE-SURVEY-COMPLETE
    • Disable one or more specified choices for a checkbox, radio button, or drop-down field after a specified amount of records have been saved with that choice for completed survey responses only.

• Additional Customization: Prevent branching logic from hiding fields that have values

  • Change default behavior of branching logic, which erases the value entered in a field that should be hidden by branching logic, to prevent data from being erased from fields that are hidden by branching logic.
    • Fields that have values will not be hidden by the branching logic.
    • When a field that should be hidden by branching logic is made visible because it has a value, an icon will be displayed on the field to indicate this to the user.
    • The name of corresponding Data Quality rule F changes when this setting is enabled from “Hidden fields that contain values” to “Fields that contain values that should be hidden”.
  • Project builder can enable via Project Setup tab > Additional Customizations.
  • Applies to both data entry forms and survey

• Smart Variables

  • [event-id]
    • Event id number for current event (longitudinal projects).
  • [survey-access-code:instrument]
    • Survey Access Code for specified survey for a given record/event/instance.
    • The format must be [survey-access-code] or [survey-access-code:instrument], in which 'instrument' is the unique form name of the specified instrument.
    • [survey-access-code] can be included in a survey invitation, and the 'instrument' is assumed to be the current survey instrument that corresponds to the invitation.
  • [survey-return-code:instrument]
    • Survey Return Code for specified survey for a given record/event/instance in order to allow a participant to return to a completed or partially completed survey response when using the 'Save & Return Later' survey feature.
    • The format must be [survey-return-code] or [survey-return-code:instrument], in which 'instrument' is the unique form name of the desired instrument. 
    • [survey-return-code] can be included in a survey invitation, and the 'instrument' is assumed to be the current survey instrument that corresponds to the invitation.
  • [user-role-id]
    • Role ID of the user role to which the current user is assigned (blank if not assigned to any user role).
    • The ID is auto-generated for each user role and unique to the project. 
  • [user-role-name]
    • Unique role name of the user role to which the current user is assigned (blank if not assigned to any user role).
    • This role name is auto-generated for each user role and unique to the project. 
  • [user-role-label] -
    • The name/label of the user role to which the current user is assigned (blank if not assigned to any user role).
    • This value is defined by the user that creates the user role.

• Tableau Data Export (API)

  • Export all records into Tableau via the REDCap API.
  • Connect Tableau to a REDCap project using an API token.
  • Project data can be exported on demand and be available for use within Tableau to produce summaries and visualizations.
  • API token required to use this feature.

• Video Tutorials

  • Project Dashboards and Smart Charts/Functions/Tables videos available on the Training Video page, Project Dashboards page, and Smart Variable popup documentation.

Changes & Improvements

• Data Entry/Data Entry Forms

  • New PDF Download Option
    • "This data entry form with saved data (send to printer: select "Save as PDF" for Printer/Destination)" option renders an improved browser-based print option to print/save the webpage as a PDF compared to the existing server-side PDF rendering options.

• Online Designer

  • Survey Settings included downloadable instrument zip file.

• Piping

  •  Add ":ampm" parameter when piping data or datetime validated field (e.g., [visit_time:ampm]) to display the time in am/pm format (e.g., 4:45pm, 10:35am) instead of military time.

• Reports

  • HTML 
    • URL or email address entered in a text or notes field will be converted into clickable link and mailto link when viewing the data in a report.
    • HTML tags will be rendered as HTML when viewing a report.
  • Live Filters included in Reports A and B 
    • Filter on: 1) the record ID field, 2) a list of all events (if the project is longitudinal), and 3) a list of all Data Access Groups (if the project contains DAGs and the current user is not assigned to a DAG).
  • Logging Improvements
    • More detailed logging descriptions on the Logging page, such as mentioning the report name and report ID.
  • Report Options for Creating New Report of Editing Existing Report
    • Display options for column headers can be customized to be field label, variable name, or both (default view).
    • Display options for multiple choice fields can be customized to be the field label, raw data value, or both (default view).
    • Exclude redcap_repeat_instrument and redcap_repeat_instance columns for projects that have have repeating instruments and/or repeating events.

• Survey Invitations

  • REDCap no longer automatically adds links to invitations for projects using Twilio, invitations configured to send the "Use participant's preference". 

Due to several factors, support for non-research REDCap projects is currently limited to: 1) processing system requests, 2) self-directed help and learning resources in the REDCap wiki, and 3) Basics and Survey training sessions. Please review the details below.

Funding for REDCap is currently only for research activities, which is also REDCap’s intended use – data collection for research studies. Although We are in the process of revising our model of support to work with both research and non-research projects in a more sustainable and beneficial way. However, at this time we are understaffed for the volume of project requests at OHSU.  and Given our mission and funding, we must prioritize providing support for research activities. Additionally, please note: we do expect the new model of support to include fees for non-research projects. We will share more details about the new model of support in upcoming months.

Training is still required for personnel building and managing non-research projects, but limited support means we are unable to provide help for non-research projects over email or at our drop-in sessions. At the present time, for non-research projects, we will be processing requests: 1) requests for new projects, 2) requests to move projects to production, and 3) system requests to approve form modifications that require a REDCap Admin’s review. We will conduct abbreviated pre-production review of survey projects over email.