Already know the system?  Jump right in, here!

 

Note: all research participation and alternative assignments must be completed by Friday December 5, 2025 at 5 PM ET, unless your professor has set an earlier completion time (check your class syllabus).  

We strongly recommend that you bookmark this page while you’re enrolled in PSY 101; ALL questions regarding research participation credits, including problems with the system, missed research, and credits that are still showing as “pending,” should be directed to the Research Participation Pool Coordinator (Dr. Odgaard), at sona@ut.edu

 

How SONA Works

SONA is an on-line portal to track your credits for research participation and alternative assignments.  Each “credit” is the equivalent of 30 minutes of research participation.  Therefore, a 1 credit study would take 30 minutes or less; a 2 credit study would take an hour or less.  An alternative assignment, which is worth 1 credit, would require reading a short (5 – 6 page) research article and answering five questions about it; this may take longer than 30 minutes, but is still the equivalent to participating in a 30-minute research session (as we deem actual participation to be a more enriching educational experience).

 

You may log in to SONA at any time to check the status of your research participation or alternative assignments or to sign up for new research opportunities.  Sign-ups are first-come, first-served.

 

It is important for you to understand that you MUST have a SONA account to get credit for either research participation or for alternative assignments.  Some people choose not to participate in research because they are uncomfortable with the idea; that’s what the alternative assignments are for.  But in either case, your instructor will NOT count research participation credits unless they are reported through SONA.

 

Questions?  Contact the Research Participation Pool Coordinator (Professor Odgaard), at sona@ut.edu   Please DO NOT use the Research Participation Pool Coordinator’s faculty email address, as this can delay responses for days.

NOTE:  The Coordinator is maintaining the system as one of several service requirements.  This means the system will be checked once per day (and not always at the same time).  This means it can take up to 36 hours to get a response to any emails you send, and to your original request for an account.

Student Conduct in Research Studies

In recent semesters, we have had several disturbing incidents in which PSY 101 students have shown up to participate in a study, but have also been abusive of the researchers and disruptive to the other participants in the study.  It is therefore necessary to warn students about precisely what is happening during research participation sessions.

The researcher you meet is either a faculty member engaged in their research or an advanced student in Psychology gaining experience by working as a Research Assistant.  If more than one student is participating in the study at the same time as you, that student is another PSY 101 or UTPSY 209 student who is learning more about the process of scientific research through their participation.  In terms of the Student Code of Conduct, then, every person you encounter and interact with during your research participation is a member of the university community engaged in academic activities of the university.  As such, you are obligated to be respectful of the time, effort, and learning experience of the people you interact with.  Any student who is willfully disruptive of the research process during a research session will be referred to the Office of Student Affairs for a violation of the Code of Conduct and will be banned from participation in both alternative assignments and research participation opportunities for the remainder of the semester.

 

To Create an Account

To get started, you’ll need to create an account for yourself in our on-line system.  You will require this account whether you will be choosing research participation or alternatives to participating in studies.

• Browse to https://utampa.sona-systems.com/ to create your account.
• Enter the information requested.  You do not need to use your UT ID, but you DO need to use your UT email address.  If you do not have a UT email address, please contact the IT helpdesk.   
• Please be careful when you select the course for which you want credit to count.  Many instructors teach more than one section of PSY 101; if you choose the wrong section, you will not get credits applied to your course grade.  The number identifying the section of your class is on the course syllabus and on your class schedule.
• After you click on “Request Account” your submission will be evaluated by the Pool Coordinator.  It may take until the end of the following day to verify your account, and your account will only be approved if you have completed every section correctly.  Once your account is verified, you will receive an email with your login information.
• You will be assigned a randomly generated password. Your password can only be changed by requesting a new one from the Pool Coordinator.

 

View/Sign Up for Studies

Once your account has been created, you can log in to our system at any time. Once logged in, you can:

• Click Study Sign-Up on the main menu, or Studies on the top toolbar.
• Review descriptions of studies and note any special requirements that may restrict your eligibility to participate in a study. Only studies with available timeslots will appear.  Note that descriptions are somewhat vague.  Research shows that detailed descriptions of a study before participating can bias the participant’s performance; you will be given a thorough debriefing when you complete your participation.
• We recommend you make a note in your planner regarding the time and location of your study!
• Confirmation of your enrollment will be mailed to your UT email account.
• PSY 101 students are required to complete 6 credits worth of research participation or alternative assignments (check your class syllabus for your instructor’s requirement, as individual instructors may have different guidelines).  You get 1 credit for completing your SONA registration by the early deadline provided in your syllabus (this semester, that deadline is September 5 at 5 PM ET).  Studies are worth between 1 and 4 credits; the number of credits for a study are listed right on the study page.  Alternative Assignments are worth 1 credit each.
• You may complete up to three credits using online-only studies; the remainder of your credits must be earned through in-person studies, through alternative assignments, or some combination of the two.
• A note on procrastination.  The department will post thousands of separate opportunities for research participation throughout the semester, which is more than ample to allow all students to complete their requirements.  However, please remember that these opportunities are also training sessions for more advanced students, and data collection for scientific publication.  This has two important ramifications for you.  First, the timing of these opportunities is not set at the start of the semester; new research opportunities can be (and are) posted at any time.  Second, we do not over-schedule opportunities in the last month of the semester.  That is, if you have not begun earning your research participation credits by the end of the first week of November, it may very well be difficult for you to complete all six credits before the semester is over.
• If you log in to find studies to sign up for, but see no available time slots, it is probably because you have missed a study you scheduled yourself to participate in.  We are ethically required to consider this to mean you have declined to participate in that study, and are choosing to do an Alternative to Research Participation instead.  Because you will be considered to be actively working on the alternative assignment after the missed participation, you will not be able to sign up for most other studies until the assignment is complete, submitted, and graded.

 

Cancelling a Sign-Up

You have the right to cancel your participation at any time, until 4:30 PM the day before your scheduled appointment to participate.

• In SONA, click My Schedule & Credits on the main page or My Schedule/Credits on the top toolbar.
• Studies you have signed up for that you are allowed to cancel will have a Cancel button next to them. You will not be penalized for canceling at this stage. There is a time limit before the study is to occur, when it is too late to cancel: 4:30 PM ET on the day prior to your scheduled research.
• Once you click Cancel to cancel your sign-up, you will see a confirmation page. You will also be warned if your cancellation might affect your ability to participate in other studies you have signed up for, due to pre-requisite restrictions.
• Click Yes to cancel your sign-up. If you cancel the first part of a two-part study, the second part will also be cancelled. If you cancel the second part of a two-part study, the first part will not be cancelled, but you will need to ask the researcher to sign you up for the second part again, if you would like to participate in it at a later date.

 

Alternatives to Research Participation

This option is available only to students enrolled in PSY 101 who have a research participation requirement in their course.  Professional ethics require that research participants have the right to cancel their participation in a study at any time, without penalty.  This includes the option to forgo signing up to participate in the first place.  As an alternative research experience, you can instead sign up to read and review one of several current research articles.  These options are available to you upon request by emailing the Research Pool Coordinator at sona@ut.edu.  Each Alternative Assignment is worth 1 credit, no matter how long it takes you to complete.

• Send an email to the sona@ut.edu, with the Subject “alternative participation request.”
• By the end of the next day, you will receive an email with an attached .pdf file (a peer reviewed, published research article), and a set of questions in the email.
• You will have 72 hours from the time the article is sent to you, or until the deadline for submitting all credits for the semester (December 5, 2025, at 5 PM ET), to read the article, and to write your responses in the body of the email (where the questions will appear).  That is, when you are ready to answer questions, hit ‘Reply’ in your email client.  Where question 1 appears in the email to you, type in your answer below that question.  Where question 2 appears in my email to you, type in your answer below for that question, and so forth.  Your answers will not be graded if you return them in any other format.  No attachments you send will be opened under any circumstances.
• Your work will be graded as pass/fail (above / below 75% correct).  We would rather not have to grade the assignments, but several students abused the option in the past by providing nonsense answers without actually reading the article.  If you read the article thoroughly and answer the questions as they are asked, 90% of students pass the alternative assignment.  Grading can take as long as three days.  Passing earns you one credit towards your course requirement.  Failing incurs no penalty, but you will still need to complete your required credits.
• Each Research Article Assignment is worth one credit only, regardless of the length of time it takes you to complete the assignment.
• You may only do one Alternative Assignment at a time, and cannot receive your next until the current assignment is graded.  Expect a minimum of three days for turnaround of each assignment.  This means that if you begin Alternative Assignments with less than 20 days until your professor’s due date for credits, you likely will not get all your participation credits, even if you complete each assignment as soon as you receive it.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

I missed my scheduled appointment to participate in a study.  What do I do?

There is no penalty for missing your scheduled research participation, but it can significantly slow the pace at which you can complete your credits.  In accord with professional ethics in psychology, we are required to interpret a no-show as you having declined to participate in that study. You will therefore be required to complete an Alternative Assignment to Research Participation for that credit.  Until the alternative assignment is completed and graded, you will not be able to sign up for additional studies.  Note that when you sign up for a study but do not show up for it, the SONA system generates an email informing you that your account is being paused due to missing the research opportunity you signed up for.

I showed up for my appointment, but the sign on the door said the study had already begun. What do I do?

The researcher conducting the study may wait up to 5 minutes to begin for people who are running late, but they are not required to do so.  Once the study has begun, however, the researcher will not admit you to participate. This will be interpreted as you declining to participate in that study, which will require you to complete an Alternative Assignment to Research Participation instead.  Until the alternative assignment is completed and graded, you will not be able to sign up for additional studies.  Note that when you sign up for a study but do not show up for it, the SONA system generates an email informing you that your account is being paused due to missing the research opportunity you signed up for.

I showed up for my appointment, but the researcher was not there.  What do I do?

Please wait at the scheduled location for 15 minutes (we suggest you double check that you are in the right place at the right time during your wait!).  If the researcher does not arrive in that time, make note of the date, time, location, and study name, and notify the Research Participation Coordinator immediately.  If the Coordinator confirms that the researcher was absent, you will receive credit for participating in the study.

Immediately after I login, as soon as I click on any menu option, I am taken back to the login page and I see a message that my authentication has expired. What does this mean?

Your web browser is not properly configured to accept cookies. You should turn on cookies in your web browser, use a different web browser (for example, try Firefox if you are currently using Internet Explorer), or try a different computer.

I participated in a study, but I have yet to receive credit. How do I receive credit?

The researcher must grant you credit. This is usually done shortly after your participation. If you haven’t received credit 72 hours (3 days) after your participation, please contact the Research Participation Coordinator via email at sona@ut.edu.

I noticed that with some studies, I can sign up for them again even if I participated before, while others don’t allow for this. Why is this?

Researchers can choose if their studies allow you to participate more than once. Not all studies allow you to participate more than once.

I attempted to sign up for a study, and I was prevented from doing so because the study I was trying to sign up for is a disqualifier for another study I am scheduled to participate in. Why is this?

If you have signed up for a study that has disqualifiers (studies you must not have participated in to participate in that study), you may not then sign up for the studies that are listed as the disqualifier studies. You are allowed to sign up for the disqualifier studies if the disqualifier study will take place after the study with disqualifiers, or if you have already participated in (and received credit for) the study with disqualifiers. The easiest way to sign up for both studies is to schedule the disqualifier study at a time later than the study with disqualifiers.

My alternative assignment took me longer than 30 minutes to complete; why don’t I get more than one credit?

The basis of credit for this part of your grade is the invaluable experience of participating in research that is state-of-the-field, and that leads to publication and/or presentation at scientific conferences.  It is not that alternative assignments are worth less; it is that the experience of participating in actual research is worth more.  The faculty of the Psychology Department value this experience highly enough that we award credit for considerably less time-on-task for participation than for a reaction paper assignment.

Why is my credit for an Alternative Assignment dependent on it being graded, when my participation in research studies is not?

We did not initially require grading of alternative assignments.  Unfortunately, several former students took advantage of this to provide “answers” to the questions that showed the students hadn’t actually bothered to read the article in question.  The required score of 75% is just enough to show that the student has indeed both read the article and considered the questions; last semester, 90% of the alternative assignments completed earned a “pass.”  In addition, you might be interested to know that your participation in research studies IS graded, in a manner of speaking; scientists sometimes use advanced statistical tools to tell whether individual participants were actually paying attention to the study or not.