Help participants make an informed choice.

Strip away institutional boilerplate and every consent framework asks for the same seven disclosures: who is running the study and where; what participation involves and roughly how long it takes; that it is voluntary and what stopping means in practice; foreseeable risks and any benefits, stated without spin; compensation and its conditions; privacy — what is collected, what is not, who sees it, how long it is kept; and a contact for questions plus one for complaints that is not you.

Use short paragraphs, clear section labels and familiar words. Participants should be able to understand the information before choosing whether to agree.

Replace the bracketed text, remove anything that does not apply, and have your review board check the result. Use its required wording wherever that differs from this example.

You are being invited to take part in a research study about [topic],
conducted by [name] at [institution]. Please read this page before deciding.

WHAT'S INVOLVED — You'll answer a survey taking about [N] minutes. There are
no right or wrong answers. [Mention anything unusual: audio, images, sensitive
topics.]

VOLUNTARY — Taking part is entirely voluntary. You may stop at any time by
closing the page; only submitted answers are kept. [If nothing identifies
you: "Your answers are not linked to your identity, so we cannot find and
remove them after you submit."] [If a panel ID is recorded: "To withdraw
your answers after submitting, contact us with your panel ID by [date]."]

RISKS & BENEFITS — [State honestly. e.g. "No risks beyond everyday life are
anticipated. Some questions concern X, which some people find sensitive; you
may skip any optional question."]

COMPENSATION — [e.g. "You will receive £X via Prolific on approval."]

PRIVACY — We do not ask for your name or email address. With your answers,
the survey records your device type (phone or computer), an approximate
country, the website that linked you here, and how long questions took.
Your IP address is used only to block abuse and is never stored with your
answers. [If using a panel: "Your panel ID is stored with your answers
solely to manage payment and prevent duplicate participation."] [If bot
protection is on: "It also counts key presses and pointer movements, never
what you type, to spot automated responses."] Data will be [stored/shared]
as follows: [retention & sharing statement].

CONTACT — Questions or concerns: [researcher email]. For your rights as a
participant: [ethics board contact].

By selecting "I agree" below, you confirm you are at least [18] years old,
have read this information, and consent to take part.

Two passages in there earn their keep. The withdrawal sentence tells the truth about identity: with nothing linking a row to a person you cannot un-submit it, and with a panel ID you can, so keep the version that applies. The privacy paragraph names what the platform records as well as what it does not, including the one identifier a panel study stores and its narrow purpose. Honest and specific reads better to participants and reviewers than vague reassurance.

Implementation shapes whether the consent is real. The screen comes before anything else — before demographics, before the welcome pitch warms them up. Agreement is an explicit action, not a pre-ticked box. And declining must do exactly what the screen promised: record nothing. A consent flow that quietly saved the decline event alongside a panel ID already broke its own first promise.

For panel studies, give people who decline a way to return to the panel, and follow its compensation rules.

In Plumeform, consent is a built-in gate: paste your text, and the survey shows agree/decline before question one. Declining stores nothing at all — no row, no partial, no event — and ends on a short closing message. For a panel study, set a decline redirect and code on the consent screen (on Prolific, its “No consent” path) and decliners go straight back; without one, a panel participant is told to return the study so the place goes to someone else. The academic research page shows it in place.

Sensitive topics deserve a specific mention in the risks paragraph and, where appropriate, skippable questions plus a support-resources line on the closing screen. Minors generally require parental consent plus child assent — a different protocol, not a reworded screen; panel studies typically require participants to be adults. Deception designs (including manipulated conditions participants aren't told about) need whatever your board requires — usually a debrief screen that explains the manipulation after submission. A/B message tests in market research don't rise to that bar, but if you are close enough to wonder, that is a board question.