Core Concepts

Reviewing submissions and rewards

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This guide covers how to set up rewards and approve submissions via the API.

When creating the study, set the reward for completing the task. Read our guide here on how to decide on a reward amount.

For a participant to be paid, their submission needs to be approved. There are 3 ways to approve a submission:

Option 1: Automatic approval

1

Create the study

POST
https://api.prolific.com/api/v1/studies/
Body
2

On your survey tool

When the participant completes the task, redirect them to Prolific with the completion code:

https://app.prolific.com/submissions/complete?cc={completion code}

See our integration guide for various survey tools.

3

Publish the study

POST
https://api.prolific.com/api/v1/studies/:id/transition/
Path Parameters
Body

Participants will then be automatically paid once they complete the submission.

Option 2: Manual review

1

Create the study

POST
https://api.prolific.com/api/v1/studies/
Body
2

Publish the study

POST
https://api.prolific.com/api/v1/studies/:id/transition/
Path Parameters
Body
3

On your survey tool

When the participant completes the task, redirect them to Prolific with the completion code:

https://app.prolific.com/submissions/complete?cc={completion code}

See our integration guide for various survey tools.

4

Approve the submission

When a participant is sent to the survey tool, their submission ID will be in the URL parameters from Step 1. Use this submission ID to approve the submission.

POST
https://api.prolific.com/api/v1/submissions/:id/transition/
Path Parameters
Body

Option 3: Bulk approval

If you prefer to manually review submissions, and are likely to review a large number of submissions at once, use the bulk approval endpoint to prevent being rate limited.

1

Create the study

POST
https://api.prolific.com/api/v1/studies/
Body
2

Publish the study

POST
https://api.prolific.com/api/v1/studies/:id/transition/
Path Parameters
Body
3

On your survey tool

When the participant completes the task, redirect them to Prolific with the completion code:

https://app.prolific.com/submissions/complete?cc={completion code}

See our integration guide for various survey tools.

4

Approve the submissions in bulk

When participants are sent to the survey tool, their submission IDs will be in the URL parameters from Step 1. Use these submission IDs to approve the submissions in bulk.

POST
https://api.prolific.com/api/v1/submissions/bulk-approve/
Note
  • Before you publish a study, make sure you have enough funds in your account to approve the required number of submissions. Check out our Workspace balance & adding money guide to learn more.
  • Any submissions Awaiting Review 21 days after completion will be auto-approved.