Research Participation (SONA)

Sona Quick Start Guide

University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee Psychology Research Participation System (Sona):

  1. Go to https://usfsm.sona-systems.com/, click on “Request Account”.
  2. Fill in account information, including your VALID User ID that maps to your valid @mail.usf.edu email address. Be sure to select all courses in which you are enrolled for the semester.
  3. Login information will be sent to your USF email. Once received, log in to https://usfsm.sona-systems.com/.
  4. Carefully read through the Human Subjects/Privacy Policy. Note that you must be 18 years or older to participate. If you agree to the terms, select “yes.”
  5. Complete the prescreen questions. (You will not receive any points for this).
  6. Enter “My Profile” to change password, if desired.
  7. Sign up for studies by clicking on “Study Sign-Up” and browsing a list of studies with available time-slots for a given day. Note that studies ending in “LAB” require in-person participation and studies ending in “NET” are on-line. NET studies have “time slots”, but you participate immediately after sign-up. To sign up for a LAB study:
    1. Select a study, then “View Time Slots for This Study.”
    2. Select the timeslot during which you would like to participate.
    3. Indicate to which course you would like to apply your credit.
    4. Click “Sign Up.”
    5. NOTE: All studies require completion of a one- or two-part survey called Pre-Screening and Mass Testing, for which you will receive participation credit.
  8. Click “My Schedule & Credits” to view or change study participation and course-to-credit (must be done BEFORE study participation).

Direct questions to Lisa Gutshall or Anthony Coy.