1. DO NOT mention that your study will take less time than expected in the advertisement.  All Researchers are obligated to provide an accurate estimation of the time required for participating in your experiment.   
2. Students in PSYC1000 can earn TWO Points of their final grade for ONE Hour of participation in Subject Pool experiments.  A maximum of 10 points can be awarded.
3. From the beginning of Week 3 to end of Week 10 of a semester, Researchers should apply for Research Ethics Review for their experiments with the Research Committee of Department of Psychology, CUHK.
4. Researchers should post their experiments using the Sona Systems (https://cuhkpsy.sona-systems.com/)
5. Aside from unforeseeable circumstances, if a Researcher reschedules time slots or cancel sessions, he / she must do it through the Sona Systems at least 24 hours in advance.
6. All Researchers are expected to be punctual when carrying out their experiments.  DO NOT make our Participants wait longer than 15mins without being able to start your experiment.  Penalty to the Researchers could be resulted, should the Research Committee receive complaints from the Participants.
7. Upon completion of participation, Researchers should grant credits to their Particpants within a reasonable period.
8. Consent Forms and Debriefing Forms are formal documents for carrying out experiments.  They are to be reviewed during the Research Ethics Review procedure.
9. Prior to commecning the experiments, Researchers should check and record the student I.D. numbers of their Participants.
10. All personal and identifiable data collected during the experiments should be kept confidential.

1. Consent Form
2. Debriefing Form
3. Survey and Behavioral Research Ethics Training Certificate
4. Supervisor Endorsement Form (NO NEED if you are a Professor, Professional Consultant, Lecturer or Postdoctoral fellow in the Department)

• Merge the Consent Form, Debriefing Form, Survery and Behavioural Research Ethics Training Certificate and Supervisor Endorsement form (if needed) into one file (in docx or pdf format).
• Please name the file using the following convention:

[expID-ethicsForm.docx or expID-ethicsForm.pdf]*  

(e.g.: 23241001-ethicsForm.docx or 23241001-ethicsForm.pdf).

*REMARKS: expID is a number assigned to an experiment that recruits Participants from the Subject Pool.

1. Send in a "Subject Pool Allocation Request" at the beginning of a semester by completing this form.  Please note that the window for applying for Subject Pool Allocation is the FIRST TWO WEEKS of a semester.  Results of Subject Pool Allocation will be announced at the beginning of Week 3.
2. Obtain "Survey and Behavioural Research Ethics Training Certificate" by following the instructions stated in Research Ethics Training website of the University.
3. Prepare relevant documents (Consent Form, Debriefing Form,  Survey and Behavioral Research Ethics Training Certificate and Supervisor Endorsement Form) for applying for Research Ethics Review.  Please refer to the "Documents required for applying for Research Ethics Review" section above for more details.
4. From the beginning of Week 3 to the end of Week 10, Researchers with allocated Subject Pool hours can apply for an Experiment ID (expID), and a Researcher Account on the Sona Systems (for new users) using this form.  Within three working days, a Sona Researcher Account will be created, and an email notification will be generated by the Sona Systems.  If you do not hear from us after 3 working days, please contact the Department Subject Pool Administrators via email subjectpool@psy.cuhk.edu.hk for assistance.
5. To file your Research Ethics Review via the Sona Systems:
   • Log into the Sona Systems -- Department of Psychology, CUHK (https://cuhkpsy.sona-systems.com/) with your CUHK OnePass credentials.
   • Select "Add New Study" in the menu bar
   • Select the study type that best suits your experiment, and press the "Continue" button at the bottom of the page.  Please note that you CANNOT change the study type once you have added the study.
   • Fill in the study information accordingly and press the "Add This Study".
     • for "Study Name", please use this convention [expID study_title] (e.g. 23241001 My Study Title);  for a Rerun study, please use the convention  [expID study_title RERUN].  You can remove "RERUN" after the study is approved by the Reviewers.
     • for "Researcher", please select your name, if it is not already.
     • for "Principal Investigator", please select the name of your Supervisor if you are a Student Researcher.
     • for "Age Restriction", please enter the targeted age range of your Participants if needed.
     • enter "Study URL", "Share Comments", "Private Comments" if needed.
     • press the "Add This Study" button once you have correctly entered all study information.
   • Press the "Send Request" button in the "Study Menu" page.
   • Upload the consolidated file for the required documents. 
     (Consent Form, Debriefing Form, Survey and Behavioural Ethics Certificate, Supervisor Endorsement Form)
   • Press the  “Send Request” button to submit your request for Research Ethics Review.
6. If your study is NOT APPROVED, the Reviewers will contact you via email for providing further clarification / information.  Please carefully follow his / her instructions on revising the information accordingly, and re-submit for approval again in the Sona Systems.
7. After your study is approved by the Reviewers, you will receive an email notification.  You can make your study "Active" under the "Basic Study Information" section, and allow the Participants to sign up for your experiment. 
8. If you do not hear from us after 10 working days upon sending in an Approval Request on the Sona Systems, please contact the Department Subject Pool Administrators via email subjectpool@psy.cuhk.edu.hk for assistance.

Video tutorial: Sona Systems -- Researcher Tutorial 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec8S3xfO-a8 

For full documentation of the Sona Systems

http://www.sona-systems.com/support/docs/ems_docs.pdf

Before reaching out for help, please be sure to go through the information on this page and other associating pages on the Department website.

For further questions, please contact the Subject Pool Coordinators of the Department via email subjectpool@psy.cuhk.edu.hk

1. Students in PSYC1000 can earn two points from one hour of participation in experiments in the Subject Pool execrise organized by the Department .  A maximum of 10 points (10% of final grade) can be obtained.
2. Researchers will recruits Participants from the Subject Pool for their experiments (studies) from Week 3 to Week 12 of a semester.
3. Students must be registered as Participants for the Subject Pool, sign up for studies, and keep track of their appointments using the Sona Systems (https://cuhkpsy.sona-systems.com/).
4. Students are expected to be punctual when participating for studies.  Please make sure you schedule your appointments accordingly.
5. Researchers cannot reject your attendance for not matching the requirement of their studies, if they failed to clearly specify the requirement during the recruiting stage.
6. Aside from unforeseeable circumstances, if you are unable to participate in a study at a chosen time, you must cancel your sessions through the Sona Systems at least 24 hours in advance.  If you fail to show up for a study without cancelling, you will be penalized by losing points from your final grade.  A maximum of 10% could be deducted.
7. If you are feeling unwell and cannot participate in a study, please obtain a note from a physician, stating you are not fit to do so.  Please provide the doctor's note to the Subject Pool Coordinator via email [subjectpool@psy.cuhk.edu.hk] with relevant details.
8. If a Participant arrives on time, but the Researcher cannot start his / her experiment within 15 minutes, the Participant can file for a complaint against the corresponding Researcher with the the Subject Pool Coordinator via email [subjectpool@psy.cuhk.edu.hk] with relevant details.  The case will be reviewed by the Research Comittee of the Department.  Should it is determined that the Researcher is at fault, the Participant can earn the points without paricipating.

• Please provide your Age Information ("below 18" OR "18 or above") to your TAs.  Upon receiving this information, the Subject Pool Coordinators will create Participants Accounts for these students within five working days. 
• Once your Particiapnt Account is created, you will receive an email notification in your CUHK email account with login credentials for the Sona Systems.
• Some Studies have an age restriction.  Please input your birthday in "My Profile" section in order to view these Studies with age restriction.

• Click the "View Available Studies" button to look for available Studies to sign up for. New Studies and new time slots will be posted by Researchers throughout the semester.  Please check for new postings regularly.
• Please note that some Studies might have special requirements for Participants (e.g., Participants must be Male; or Participants must be Cantonese native speakers, etc).

• If you are signing up for a Standard Study (i.e.: a study that is scheduled to take place at a specific time at a specific location), please be sure to note the time & location of the Study, the name of the Researcher, and his/her contact information.  Participants are expected to be punctual when participating, and plan to stay for the entire duration of the Study.  The length of the Study will be specified in the posting.
• If you sign up for an Online Study, there will usually only be a single available session. After signing up, you will immediately be able to participate by clicking on the link to the study. You can also revisit the link to participate at a latter time.

Further information about participating in studies on Sona Systems is available on youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1OnT2ZU6QQ 

If you have questions about your course requirement, please check with your Professor and / or TAs of your course.

If you have further questions about the participation for the Subject Pool organized by the Department, please contact the Subject Pool Coordinators via email subjectpool@psy.cuhk.edu.hk.