Contents:
1. Minimum payment rate
2. Why are some studies underpaying?
3. What are we doing about it?
4. What can you do about it?

Prolific requires fair payments for participants, but sometimes underpaying studies can still happen. Read on for more information on our minimum rates, how studies become underpaying and what we're doing to resolve this.

Minimum payment rate

Researchers must pay at least £6/$8 per hour—this is our absolute minimum reward rate. We believe fair pay leads to better data quality, so we recommend researchers pay participants £9.00/$12.00 per hour or more.

Why are some studies underpaying?

When creating a study, researchers set both an hourly payment rate and an estimated completion time. For example, a researcher might create a 20-minute study and offer participants £2.00—equivalent to £6 per hour, meeting our minimum rate. This rate appears in green text on the study info panel.

As participants begin taking the study, Prolific calculates and displays the actual average completion time on the info panel. If participants consistently take longer than estimated—say 40 minutes instead of 20—the effective hourly rate drops from £6 to £3 per hour. Since the total payment remains fixed at £2.00, this becomes an underpaying study due to the researcher's significant underestimation of the completion time.

What are we doing about it?

When a study becomes underpaying, researchers receive notifications both on their study page and via email.

To be transparent with participants, we display payment rates based on actual average completion times rather than estimated times. This gives you a more accurate picture of how long a study will take.

We've updated the study info panel to show both the intended and actual hourly reward rates alongside the monetary reward.

We introduced adjustment payments to make it easier for researchers to resolve underpaying studies and to track researchers who repeatedly run such studies. You might receive an email notifying you of a bonus payment—even if it's as small as £0.01. Every penny counts, and we're adamant about fair payment, so we'll insist on that 1p bonus.

What can you do about it?

While we continue making improvements, please report any underpaying studies using the "Report study" button on the study page.

If you've participated in an underpaying study and haven't received an adjustment payment within 22 days, please message us using the button below. Researchers have 22 days to pay study rewards and correct any underpaying studies. When you contact us, we'll work with the researcher to ensure all approved participants receive their bonus payments.

Researchers who don't comply with these policies will have their accounts suspended until they resolve all underpaying studies.

Please be aware that some studies offer fixed rewards. These studies compensate participants for completing tasks within a specified timeframe (hours, days, or weeks) for a set payment. Be sure to review the study description thoroughly before agreeing to participate.

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