Adding Users to A Project

You are a REDCap project administrator or PI and need to add someone to your existing project?  Here are the steps you need to follow to do it right!

If you are not the study PI or we do not have you listed as an administrator for the project then you should have the PI or an authorized member of the study team make the request.

1. Do your new users already have a REDCap login?  If not, then email redcap@ualberta.ca and request a login.  Requests should come from the PI or from their designated Project Administrator.  We need First Name, Last Name and email address to set a new user up in REDCap. Once they have a REDCap login, you are ready to add them to your project!

2. From your REDCap project, click "User Rights". You can find this link in the following places:

• From anywhere in your Project, In the left hand, 'grey', column under "Applications."

• From your Project Setup tab, a little over half way down.

3. Decide: Are you adding your new user with custom rights, or by assigning them to a role?

Custom User Rights

•  To add a new user with custom rights, type in their username, or start typing in their full name in the "Add new user" box. REDCap will automatically show you a list of the users with the same combination of letters.  Select the user you wish to add from the list.

• Click "Add with custom rights".

• Select the user rights that you wish this user to have access to and click "Add user".  Rule of thumb: give the least amount of access that a user needs to do their job.  You can always add more later.  For example, there should only be a select few with the permissions needed to edit the Project Design and Setup or to add new Users to the Project.  Users with User Rights can give themselves access to the Project Design and Setup, even if they did not have it to start with, and Users that can change project settings while the project is in production potentially have the capability to cause loss of data with the changes they make. 

User Roles

• To add a new user using User Roles, you must first create the roles to which they will be assigned.  In the "Enter new role name" box, give the user role a name and click "Create Role". Select the user rights that you wish all users assigned to this role to have access to and click "Create Role".

• In the "Assign new user" box, type in the new user's username, or start typing in their full name. REDCap will automatically show you a list of the users with the same combination of letters.  Select the user you wish to add from the list.

• Click "Assign to role" and a dropdown of available roles will appear in a list. Select the role you wish this user to be added to.

4. Data Access Groups (DAGs) - REDCap's version of "sites".  When you first add a user to a project, they are automatically given access to all of the data in the project.  If you want to limit their access to the data that has been entered only in a specific site, then you need to create and assign Data Access Groups.

• Click on the Data Access Groups Tab, located next to the User Rights tab near the top of the page.

• To create a group/site, enter the group name in the "Enter new group name" textbox and click Add Group.

• Under Assign user to a group, select the user and the group and click "Assign".

5. Document the addition of the new user in an ongoing list of users that shows you the date they were added, and the date they were removed from the project. You will need this list if you get audited.

Troubleshooting

• I can't find the "User Rights" and DAGs link in my project!

Likely you have not been given the correct permissions needed to add new users to your project.  Check with the PI and see if they can either add User Rights to your permissions or can add the users for you.

For additional information on user roles and DAG see this page.