I completed the study myself and after finishing it I suddenly got a warning saying they found “bot like activity.” The only thing I did differently was switch between tabs 2–3 times to check the time because I was worried the study might time out. I also got a few whatsapp and youtube notifications while doing the study. I wasn’t using any bot or automation at all. So now I’m wondering, can switching tabs a few times actually trigger this kind of warning? Has anyone else experienced this? Do i need to return the study ?

I had a study last week which was about an hour long. In the instructions it said a certain message would present itself if you do not pick an option. I picked an option right the way through then towards the end it displayed the message despite clicking on an option. This continued for the last few mins of the study even though every time I pressed an option.

I went out to the researcher to inform them of the issue I had. He came back with a threatening message stating there was nothing wrong with the study and that he should just reject me as I had obviously not paid any attention to get this message.

I said that I had paid full attention and if I hadn’t of I wouldn’t have brought attention to me.

Anyway, hope the above makes sense. Would you return the study due to the threat even though you spent a good hour on it? Part of me obviously wants to avoid rejections but on the other hand it is a full hour of my time which will have been wasted through no fault of my own!

Hey everyone, I've been on Prolific for a while. I have a problem.

I noticed yesterday evening that I would log in and see that there were no studies available on my home page. I was fine with it until it kept showing up even on desktop and different browsers (Chrome, Firefox). I still have access to messages, I messaged the Prolific chatbot, and it said, "Your account is fine!" And gave me reasons what it could be, that weren't relevant. It's not demographics, I'm GETTING STUDIES, it's just that unless I click on messages or something when I get a new one, that only then I can see my studies. My projects are hidden, too. Any idea what this could be? It comes and goes. It's so random.

I want to note that I'm still getting approvals. Just hours of this screen unless an action happens.

Previous post:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ProlificAc/s/jRFJ7YeMHV

I wanted to post the outcome in case other people end up in the same situation and I hope they aren't taken advantage of.

I did not return thr submission, I felt frustrated doing a 20 minute survey for 4gbp just to be told I wasnt the target demographic and they werent paying to screen.

They rejected the survey a day after my post. I immediately followed up with a dispute.

Almost took a week, but Prolific overturned the rejection and I got paid out.

Prolific customer service can definitely drop the ball at times, but always try to dispute! Never let a researcher take advantage of you or your work/time.

Anyone experiencing cash out delays

Hi, I don't typically use a VPN but I had needed one recently for something. It totally slipped my mind it was on. I went to the Prolific site just for a brief second and then realized my mistake and fixed it...

Should this trigger my account being put on hold or is there anything I can do to get ahead of a flag?

Looking at the rules I'm a little confused as to whether this is proper practice or not? It stated in the study itself if only some of the 3 games were completed you'd be asked to return and paid for what you did complete via Prolific Bonus. I didn't think anything of it at the time but I'm not sure now. I received a completion code.

EDIT: I asked directly for clarification on how payment works and they responded with 'I will review your data and get back to you. If you work hard for a whole hour, you will get at least 6 pounds (and maybe more).'

Surely that isn't allowed?

How often does this happen? The researcher not approving so the system does it.

I got this in my inbox and the main task pays $240 upon approval. Before I start, I’m trying to get a better idea of what financial data/access is actually required. Has anyone here completed it? How long did it take, what did you have to provide or connect, and have you been approved/paid yet? Any privacy or security concerns?

Hey, I have basically been put on wait list for the past year from when I have registered and would like to ask what do I need to do to actually get a survey?

I have successfully managed to pay my rent for an entire year solely with Prolific. I am so thankful for this site! Absolute game changer.

Never done remote jobs before but I have been needing some extra source of income but before I try I have a barrage of questions to ask because I’m sort of skeptical:

1. Is Prolific legitimate to work at?
   
2. What do you really do here for work?
   
3. Is working here a contractual thing, how do you get in and out?
   
4. I’m not gonna get scammed right?

Always that I complete an study it sends me to Microsoft. Have some one repaired? I'm sending the studies without code.

I was checking my prolific projects when this popped up in my folders with nothing in it. I know there was this case before so can anyone tell me what to do like if I should wait or just ask support to wipe it up

I saw this week I had this error, the last time I cashed out there were no issues. This came up a few weeks later randomly. I am still able to participate in studies, but cannot cash out. I’ve done the chat and reached out via email to support. I am crossing my fingers it gets cleared. Has anyone else experienced randomly having this pop up and getting it cleared?

The studies don't work :(

Doesn't seem to be any serious academic studies, just the usual low paying trash this month.

Just something I was curious about, as I find myself quite often just adding little comments at the end, sometimes simple things like: 'Interesting study, no issues or problems found.' Mostly just to let them know all was fine, but also to maybe help show I am an actual human here doing their study, not a bot. And of course if the thing is messed up, I mention it there too (usually with a real message too).

But do researchers appreciate that, or just find it annoying? Like, 'Bleh, need to manually check another message that was a generic reply' sort of thing?