On your Submissions page, we use a few different statuses to tell you what's currently happening with your submission. This article explains the status Rejected.

There are a few reasons your submission might get rejected. Please note that this isn't an exhaustive list.
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Researchers estimate how long their study should take, and Prolific calculates the average completion time as the study progresses. If your completion time is unusually fast, it suggests you didn't fully engage with the study, so we permit rejections for submissions completed significantly faster than expected.

If you take too long on a study, you'll be timed out instead. Researchers can't reject you for being too slow, your submission automatically times out rather than staying "awaiting review."

If you were rejected for completing a study too quickly and you believe this is wrong, message the researcher directly through the app. If you don't hear back within seven days, contact Prolific Support using the chat icon in the bottom right of your screen, we're happy to help.

If your study has timed out instead, reach out to the researcher directly to discuss your situation.

Exceptionally fast submissions get flagged when they're unrealistically below the median completion time for that particular study.

Yes. If you believe your submission was rejected unfairly, contact our support team. We review these cases carefully and overturn any incorrect rejections, and your feedback also helps us improve our systems.

This shouldn't happen. Fill out the relevant feedback in the app and contact Prolific Support using the chat icon in the bottom right of your screen, and we'll work to resolve it.

Researchers use attention checks to confirm participants are actively engaging with study instructions. Missing or failing these checks suggests you didn't carefully read the questions or instructions.

We have guidelines on using attention checks as a measure of data quality to keep these checks fair and straightforward. If you think an attention check was unfair, you're welcome to discuss it with the researcher.

To give our researchers high quality data, you need to actively engage with their study, paying close attention to instructions, giving thoughtful responses, and avoiding distractions. If your engagement falls short, your data may be unusable for the researcher's specific question.

For example, low engagement looks like writing only a few words when asked for a full paragraph.

Researchers can't reject your submission solely for providing NOCODE, Prolific's term for an incorrect or missing completion code. If your submission was rejected for "No data" and or NOCODE, and you believe this is wrong, message the researcher to discuss it.

We allow researchers to validate the prescreening criteria they applied, by asking the same questions again in their survey, using the exact wording from before. If your answers don't match what's in your 'About you' section, you may be directed to return your submission.

If you complete a prescreening study successfully, you must be paid for your time, even if you don't qualify for the follow up study.

We don't allow screening within a study for criteria outside Prolific's prescreening. If you're screened out this way, contact Prolific Support using the chat icon in the bottom right of your screen, and we'll investigate.

If you've been unfairly rejected after being screened out, contact the researcher to have your rejection overturned. You can also request to return your submission instead, and you may be eligible for partial payment.
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Researchers can only run in-study screening through our approved methods: the custom screening feature or a two-study approach. This ensures you always receive fair payment for your time.

If you're screened out without proper compensation, please:

Our team reviews this feedback and works to resolve these situations quickly.

If you run into a technical issue during a study, contact the researcher and return the study right away. Don't wait for the issue to be resolved, you won't be compensated for waiting time.

If you submit the study as complete instead of returning it, the researcher may reject your submission since they won't know about your technical difficulties. At that point, you'll need to contact the researcher to resolve it.

We can't provide financial compensation for a technical issue itself. But if you've been rejected because of one, we can return your submission so the rejection won't count against your record. If your study was rejected, or the researcher has agreed to pay, contact Prolific Support using the chat icon in the bottom right of your screen, and we'll make sure it doesn't affect your account standing.

Researchers can check whether your free text responses are genuinely written by you, rather than generated with AI tools like ChatGPT or copied from elsewhere. If a researcher determines you used AI tools or similar methods, they'll reject your submission.

If you believe your study was incorrectly flagged for failing an authenticity check, contact the researcher to explain your situation.

Studies should be set up so essential questions are mandatory. Researchers shouldn't reject a submission for a question that wasn't marked as required. If you've been rejected for this reason, message the researcher to discuss it.

If you have an issue with a study, contact the researcher through the messaging system and or Prolific Support first, rather than reaching out to the Institutional Review Board (IRB) or a university. We can resolve most study related issues, and offer a mediation service to help facilitate communication with researchers if you can't resolve it directly.

If you think your submission was rejected in error or unfairly, you can dispute it. Open the chatbot using the support icon in the bottom right, then select Contact Support and Dispute a rejection.
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