Introduction to integrations
Before exploring this advanced guide, we recommend reviewing our basic study set-up guide if you haven't already done so.
Qualtrics also provides a comprehensive support center with detailed guidance on setting up and managing studies on their platform. We strongly encourage all researchers to familiarize themselves with these resources before creating their first study, as they cover many common questions and best practices.
Getting consent
Before participants begin your study, you must obtain their informed consent. If a participant chooses not to consent, they should be directed to a separate end-of-survey message that explains how to return their submission so their study spot can be made available to another participant.
To set this up in Qualtrics:
On the ‘Builder’ tab, click ’Add Block’ where you would add in new study questions. Name the new block ’Consent Form’, and add your consent information as a question. Include two response options:
I consent to participate.
I do not consent to participate.
Open ’Survey Flow’.
Click ’Add Below’ beneath your Consent Form block.
Select ’Branch’.
Click ’Add a Condition’.
Select your consent question, choose the response option that indicates consent has been given, and then change the condition to ’Is Not Selected’.
This condition ensures that participants who do not provide consent are redirected out of the study.
Under the new Branch, click ’Add a New Element Here’ and select ’End of Survey’.
In the new End of Survey element, click ’Customize’, then select:
→ Override Survey Options
→ Custom end of survey message
→ My Library from the drop-down menu
→ New Message
Give the message a descriptive name and enter the following text:
As you do not wish to participate in this study, please close this survey and return your submission on Prolific by selecting the "Stop Without Completing" button.
Click ’Save’, then click ’OK’.
Once complete, your Survey Flow should look similar to the example shown below.
Recording participant IDs
To match survey responses with individual submissions on Prolific, you must record each participant's Prolific ID in your survey.
We recommend collecting participant IDs near the beginning of your survey (after consent has been obtained). This ensures you can identify responses even if a participant exits the study before reaching the end.
There are two ways to record Prolific IDs in Qualtrics.
Option 1: Automatically record prolific IDs using URL parameters (Recommended)
This method automatically passes participants' Prolific IDs from Prolific to Qualtrics. Participants do not need to manually enter their IDs, which reduces the risk of missing or incorrect data.
In Qualtrics, this is accomplished using Embedded Data.
Step 1: Create a Prolific ID question
Add a new block to your survey called Prolific ID.
Click ‘Add new question’ and create a Text Entry question.
Although participants will not need to enter their ID manually, this question allows the ID to be stored alongside their survey responses.
Step 2: Create an embedded data field
To ensure the Prolific ID is captured in your dataset:
Open ’Survey Flow’.
Click ‘Add a new element here’ and then add an ’Embedded Data’ element at the very beginning of your survey.
Enter PROLIFIC_PID as the field name.
Confirm that the field is set to ’Value will be set from panel or URL’.
If needed, click ‘Move’ on the block to move the Embedded data block up to the beginning of your survey.
Click ‘Apply’ at the bottom to save the changes
Step 3: Configure the question to use the embedded data
Go back to the Survey Builder page and click on your Prolific ID question.
In the left-hand ‘Edit Question’ toolbar, click ‘Default Choices’ under ‘Question behavior’
In the Default Choices window, click the blue drop-down arrow next to the text entry box.
Select ’Embedded Data Field’.
Enter PROLIFIC_PID, or select it from the list if it appears.
Click ’Insert’.
Qualtrics will insert the following value:
${e://Field/PROLIFIC_PID}
Click ’Save’.
The participant's Prolific ID will now be automatically populated into the question when they enter the survey.
Step 4: Verify Your Question Setup
Your completed Prolific ID question should look similar to the example below.
Step 5: Configure URL parameters in Prolific
Next, you need to tell Prolific to pass participant information to Qualtrics.
In Prolific, navigate to the ’Data collection’ section while creating your study.
Paste your Qualtrics survey URL (this can be found in the ‘Distributions’ tab on Qualtrics) into the ’What is the URL of your study?’ field.
Select ’I'll use URL parameters’.
Prolific will automatically append the required parameters to your study URL.
The default parameter name is PROLIFIC_PID, so in most cases no additional configuration is required.
Step 6: Publish your study
When participants access your study through Prolific:
PROLIFIC_PIDwill be replaced with the participant's unique Prolific ID.STUDY_IDwill be replaced with an identifier for your study.SESSION_IDwill be replaced with an identifier for the participant's specific submission.
These values will then be automatically recorded in Qualtrics.
If you only need participant IDs, you can remove the STUDY_ID and SESSION_ID parameters from your survey URL.
Option 2: Ask participants to enter their Prolific ID
If you prefer not to use URL parameters, you can collect Prolific IDs directly within your survey.
Step 1: Add a Prolific ID question
Create a Text Entry question on the Survey builder page and ask participants to enter their Prolific ID.
Remember that Prolific IDs contain 24 alphanumeric characters, so the field must accept both letters and numbers.
Step 2: Make the question required
To ensure every participant provides their ID:
Select the question.
Click ’Response Requirements’ on the left-hand ‘Edit question’ toolbar.
Select ’Force Response’.
Step 3: Configure the study link in Prolific
On the Prolific study set-up page, In the Data Collection section:
Paste your survey URL into the ’What is the URL of your study?’ field.
Select ’I'll add a question in my study’.
Participants will then be prompted to enter their Prolific ID directly within your survey.
Validating your prescreeners
In Qualtrics, the setup process for consent checks, prescreener validation, and custom screening questions is the same.
If a participant provides an answer that differs from the response they previously gave on Prolific, you should use a custom completion path to redirect them out of the study and provide the appropriate completion code.
This process is identical to the workflow used for:
Custom screening questions
Validation of built-in Prolific prescreeners
No-consent exits
Other eligibility-based study exits
Using a custom completion path ensures that participants are routed correctly and that their submission status is recorded appropriately.
For step-by-step instructions, see:
We recommend validating your prescreening criteria within your survey by asking participants the same prescreening question(s) again.
To ensure accurate validation:
Place all validation questions at the very beginning of your survey.
Use the exact same wording and answer options that appear on Prolific.
Do not rephrase, shorten, or modify the questions in any way.
Setting Up Prescreener Validation in Qualtrics
Step 1: Create a validation block
Add a new block to your survey called Screener Validation.
Add the prescreening question(s) that you want to validate.
Step 2: Create a branch in Survey Flow
Open ’Survey Flow’.
Click ’Add Below’ beneath your Screener Validation block.
Select ’Branch’.
Click ’Add a Condition’.
Step 3: Configure the validation logic
Select the first validation question.
Select the answer that matches the participant's required prescreening response.
Change the condition to ’Is Not Selected’.
Click ‘OK’ and then click ‘Apply’ at the bottom to save your changes
This condition will identify participants whose response does not match their Prolific prescreening answer.
Step 4: Add additional validation questions (optional)
If you are validating multiple prescreeners:
Click the green ’+ ’ icon to the right side of the validation branch.
Select ’OR’.
Repeat the validation setup for each additional question.
Using OR ensures that participants are redirected if they fail any of the validation checks.
Step 5: Add an end of survey element
Under the Branch, click ’Add a New Element Here’.
Select ’End of Survey’.
Step 6: Create a custom end-of-survey message
Click ’Customize’ on the new End of Survey element.
Select:
Override Survey Options
Custom End of Survey Message
My Library
New Message
Give the message a descriptive name.
Enter the following text:
You are ineligible for this study because the information you provided does not match your Prolific prescreening responses. Please return your submission on Prolific by selecting the "Stop Without Completing" button.
Make sure the Button and Social Share options are both unchecked.
Note: If you have configured a custom completion path in Prolific, participants who fail validation should be redirected using the appropriate screened-out completion code rather than being shown a message instructing them to return their submission. Refer to our custom completion paths guide for setup instructions.
Step 7: Save your changes
Click ’Save’.
Click ’OK’.
Once complete, your Survey Flow should look similar to the example shown below.
Redirecting participants back to Prolific upon completion
After participants finish your study, they should be directed back to Prolific so their submission can be recorded correctly.
There are two ways to do this in Qualtrics. We recommend using an automatic redirect whenever possible, as it provides the smoothest participant experience and reduces the risk of incomplete submissions.
If you’re using a free account or have limited access through your institution or organisation, you won’t be able to automatically redirect participants using a completion path link. Instead, you’ll need to show a custom message asking participants to return to Prolific.
Option 1: Automatically redirect participants to Prolific (recommended)
Qualtrics can automatically redirect participants to a specific URL when they complete your survey.
Step 1: Obtain your Prolific redirect URL
When creating your study in Prolific:
In the Completion paths section, you’ll see a generated unique redirect URL for your study
Copy this to add into Qualtrics
Step 2: Configure the redirect in Qualtrics
Open your survey in Qualtrics.
Navigate to the default End of Survey element in Survey Flow and click ‘customize’
Under ’End of Survey Message’, select ’Redirect to URL’
Paste the completion URL provided by Prolific into the URL field.
Step 3: Add a thank-you message (recommended)
Before the redirect occurs, we recommend adding a final survey block that:
Thanks participants for taking part.
Informs them that clicking ’Next’ or ’Proceed’ will return them to Prolific to complete their submission.
This helps participants understand what will happen next and reduces confusion if the redirect takes a few moments to occur.
Option 2: Provide a completion code
If you prefer not to use automatic redirects, you can provide participants with a completion code that they can enter manually on Prolific.
Step 1: Obtain your completion code
When creating your study in Prolific:
In the Completion paths section, you’ll find a unique, generated code that you can provide to participants.
Step 2: Create a custom end-of-survey message
In Qualtrics, open the default End of Survey element.
Under End of Survey branch, select ’Custom’.
In the drop-down menu below, select:
My Library
New Message
Step 3: Add the completion code
Create a custom completion message that:
Thanks participants for taking part.
Clearly displays the completion code.
Instructs participants to return to Prolific and enter the code to submit their study.
For example:
"Thank you for taking part in this study. Your completion code is: XXXXXXXX. Please return to Prolific and enter this code to complete your submission."
Step 4: Save your changes
Save the message and apply it to your End of Survey element.
Previewing your study
Once you have completed the setup steps above, you can add your main survey questions and any additional survey logic.
Before publishing your study to participants, we strongly recommend previewing it to make sure everything works as expected.
Preview your survey in Qualtrics
Previewing your survey in Qualtrics allows you to test the participant experience and verify that:
Consent logic is working correctly.
Prescreener validation is functioning as intended.
Participant IDs are being captured properly.
End-of-survey messages and redirects are configured correctly.
All survey questions and branching logic behave as expected.
To preview your survey:
In Qualtrics, click ’Preview’ in the upper-right corner of the Survey Builder tab
Preview your study in Prolific
We also recommend previewing your study from within Prolific.
This allows you to verify that:
Your study URL is configured correctly.
URL parameters are being passed successfully.
Participants are redirected to the correct completion URL when they finish the survey.
Follow the steps in Previewing your study to launch a Prolific preview and test the complete participant journey from start to finish.
Important: Publish changes before testing
Any changes you make to your survey in Qualtrics must be published before they will appear in a Prolific preview.
If you update your survey but do not click Publish, Prolific will continue to use the previously published version of the survey.
For more information about publishing surveys in Qualtrics, see the Qualtrics documentation on survey publishing.
Qualtrics FAQs
Why are participants receiving an incorrect completion code or "NOCODE"?
If participant submissions are showing an incorrect completion code or the value NOCODE, it usually means there is an issue with how the survey is ending.
Try the following troubleshooting steps:
1. Verify your completion URL or completion code
Confirm that:
The correct completion URL or completion code is configured in your survey.
The End of Survey element is located at the end of your Survey Flow.
Participants are reaching the correct completion path when they finish the survey.
2. Make sure your latest changes have been published
Changes made in Qualtrics are not live until you click ’Publish’.
If you update your survey but do not publish it, participants will continue to access the previously published version, which may contain outdated completion settings.
3. Review your survey logic
Check any branch logic, display logic, or survey flow conditions to ensure participants are not:
Being redirected to an unintended End of Survey element.
Exiting the survey earlier than expected.
Following a path that bypasses the correct completion URL or code.
4. Contact support
If the issue persists:
Contact Qualtrics Support to investigate any survey configuration issues.
If Qualtrics cannot identify the cause, contact Prolific Support for further assistance.
How do I access responses that were not submitted?
If a participant leaves your survey before submitting a completed response, their data may still be available in Responses in Progress within Qualtrics.
By default, Qualtrics automatically records incomplete responses after one week.
You can change this setting by navigating to:
‘Survey Options’ → ‘Incomplete Survey Responses’
For more information about how Qualtrics handles incomplete responses, refer to the Qualtrics documentation.
What if I forgot to collect participant IDs?
If participant IDs were not collected during your study, Prolific cannot retrieve or reconstruct them after the fact.
Prolific does not store participant survey responses, so if a participant's Prolific ID was not captured in your survey data, it is generally not possible to recover it later.
However, if you intended to collect participant IDs using Qualtrics Embedded Data, there is a chance the IDs were captured but not included in your exported dataset.
Attempting to recover participant IDs
You can try the following steps in Qualtrics:
Open your survey.
Navigate to ’Survey Flow’.
Add or update an Embedded Data field named PROLIFIC_PID.
Save your changes.
Re-export your survey data.
If the participant IDs were captured by Qualtrics, they may appear in the new export.
Important: Recovery is not guaranteed. If the IDs do not appear after re-exporting the data, they cannot be recovered.
To avoid this issue in future studies, we recommend testing your participant ID collection setup before launching your study.
Why are completion times different in Qualtrics and Prolific?
It is normal for completion times in Qualtrics and Prolific to differ.
One common reason is that a participant may finish the survey in Qualtrics but delay submitting their study on Prolific.
For example:
A participant may close the survey window and return to Prolific later to submit their study.
A participant may click the ’I've Finished’ button on Prolific at a different time than when they completed the survey.
A participant may accidentally interact with the completion process before finishing the survey and then return to complete it later.
Because Qualtrics records the time the survey was completed, while Prolific records the time the participant submits their study, the timestamps may not always match exactly.
Small differences between the two platforms are therefore expected and do not necessarily indicate a problem with your study.