Participant Recruitment Advertising

PRS: Participant Recruitment Services. PRS is based in the Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS). The PRS team assists you with the development of a recruitment plan and to create advertisements. PRS will promote your study on social media, wall mounts in UK HealthCare, at local community outreach events, and on our CCTS website. PRS works closely with Research Communications to secure university-required Public Relations Review (PRR) on your behalf, which is necessary, before submitting them to the IRB.

PRR: Public Relations Review. Conducted by Research Communications (with the approval of the Office of the Vice President for Research and UK Public Relations and Marketing), the PRR team reviews your materials to ensure compliance with UK graphic standards, PR language and UK legal requirements, and IRB guidelines, then stamps materials before you send to the IRB.

All non-medical and medical Principal Investigators (PIs) who are faculty at UK and all students (undergraduate, graduate and postdoc conducting a study as part of a class or training project) need to submit their participant recruitment materials for any research study requiring IRB approval. You can choose to create your own materials OR partner with Participant Recruitment Services (PRS) to design your materials and/or to advertise your study.

• Complete: CCTS Service Request Form (go here and click “Request Service’). You will need to become a member if you are not already a CCTS/CRSO member.
  • Enter the linkblue ID of the Principal Investigator (as defined by the IRB documentation). The Service Request Form will then populate with the Principal Investigator’s information.
  • If you are a research study team member, please enter your information in the “Point of Contact” fields.
• Select: Participant Recruitment Services (PRS) and Public Relations Review (PRR) if you are requesting help in designing your materials or want PRS to advertise your study.
• Select: Public Relations Review (PRR) only if you have designed your own materials and will be advertising on your own, as defined in your IRB Protocol.
• Attach: IRB Protocol + Approval Letter + Any Draft Flyers/Recruitment Materials as PDFs.

What if I don't have an approved IRB protocol yet?
Skip that part of the form. You can get materials reviewed at any point in the process. 

Who can I contact if I have questions when filling out this form?
CCTS/CRSO Research Navigator Services at CCTSNavigators@uky.edu. The CCTS/CRSO Research Navigator team assists researchers by guiding them through the research infrastructure, assessing project needs, facilitating access to CCTS and CRSO resources, and matching the needs of researchers with the expertise across campus.

You need Public Relations Review (PRR). If you will be advertising your recruitment materials on your own, you are responsible for editing your materials if the PRR team requests changes. You can avoid changes and save time by reviewing the Dos and Don’ts above and these FAQs before you submit your advertising materials. See FAQ3 when you are ready to submit, choose “PRR only” and upload your materials as PDFs.

PRR will occur within two business days of submission. The PRR team reviews your materials to make sure they meet requirements by the IRB, PR and UK Office of Legal Counsel, as outlined in these Dos and Don’ts and FAQs.

When the PRR team stamps (with name + approved date) your materials, you then send those stamped versions to the IRB for review and approval. Once you receive IRB approval, use the non-stamped versions of your materials to recruit participants.

Yes! You can download and edit this flyer pdf in Adobe Acrobat to tailor it for your research study.

• First, complete the CCTS Service Request Form (see FAQ 3).
• PRS provides sample IRB language for the recruitment section of your IRB Protocol Application that details various recruitment methods and advertisement platforms offered by the CCTS and CCTS partners within research, academic, medical and community-based populations. (PIs can modify this language based on research subject matter).
• PRS will create all recruitment ads and content according to ADA compliance and University of Kentucky Public Relations Review (PRR) standards (incorporating photos, animation, video clips, from several licensed image companies). 
• PRS will send finalized materials for Public Relations Review (PRR). PRR will return stamped materials to PRS. PRS will send stamped materials to you and request you submit them for IRB approval.
• Per your confirmation that IRB approval has been obtained (you supply IRB protocol + approval letter to PRS), PRS posts materials to CCTS platforms (see FAQ 9).
• PRS tracks metrics on recruitment materials and methods used by PI.
• PRS provides feedback regarding successful methods of advertisement and recruitment.

Please visit the CCTS website, complete a service request form, and select Participant Recruitment Services (PRS) for a consultation.

• See Participant Recruitment Guidance Dos and Don’ts (above).
• Read these FAQs.
• Review “A Principal Investigator’s Guide to Identification and Recruitment of Human Subjects for Research” (PDF) found under “Recruitment of Subjects/Advertising” on the IRB Survival Handbook webpage.
• Research Recruitment and Advertising in Human Research [video, 15 minutes]

PRS helps you with material creation AND specific advertising placement. Learn more below.

Recruitment Material Creation: How are you reaching your population? 
PRS will:

1. provide PIs with sample language for the Advertisement section of your IRB protocol that can be modified according to subject matter.
2. create template flyers, digital banners ads, media advertisements (radio, television and videos), research registry flyers, educational brochures, online prescreening forms, posters, etc.
3. connect PIs with other UK researchers, partners and campus entities that also work with your desired population
   1. Markey Cancer Center
   2. Sanders Brown Center on Aging
   3. Kentucky Neuroscience Institute (KNI)
   4. CCTS Special Populations Research Core
   5. CCTS Community Engagement and Research Core
   6. Engagement with underrepresented minority populations
   7. Engagement with Rural Research Hubs located in KY’s Appalachian counties 

Recruitment Material Advertisement: Where will people see your ads? 
CCTS Platforms:

• Wall mounts (UK HealthCare PAV H, UK College of Nursing, UK College of Pharmacy, UK Good Samaritan Hospital Lobby, UK University Health Services, and UK Shriner’s Children’s Hospital Lobby), UK HealthCare digital screens (per the approval of UK HealthCare), back of patient room doors at UK Turfland (Barnstable Brown Diabetes Clinic)
• Get Well Network monitor screens in patient rooms (UK HealthCare Pav A, Pav H, Kentucky Children’s Hospital (KCH) and Good Samaritan Hospital (GSH)
• ukclinicalresearch.com: more than 20K hits to this website this year
• uky.edu: Select “Research” then “Participate in Research”
• ukhealthcare.uky.edu: Select “Research” from the Main Menu, then “Clinical Trials”
• Local media and media in Eastern Kentucky locations (newspaper, radio)
• UK ResearchMatch, Wellness, Health, and You (WHY) or other research registry platforms
• UK CCTS Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and/or YouTube pages)
• Community Outreach Events in the local area (i.e., Mind Matters Health Fair, Latino Health Fair, Roots and Heritage Festival)
• UK Campus Outreach Events (Undergraduate Research Day, Barnstable Brown Diabetes Research Day)

Note: If your materials are created by the PRS team, they will send materials to the Public Relations Review (PRR) team upon completion. The PRR team will return stamped materials to PRS. PRS will send to you, the PI, and request you provide confirmation of IRB approval (protocol + approval letter). PRS team will post ads to CCTS platforms within two business days. 

You need a UK Research logo on all flyers. Social media ads are not required to use these logos. Please see the Logos sidebar for examples and links to download page. 

You may use an official UK college/center/lab logo on materials, but you must also use one a UK Research logo.

You are not allowed to emphasize payment, which means you can’t say “paid research study” or present a dollar amount in your headline. You can, with IRB approval, state how participants will be paid in the body text of the ad.​

You are not allowed to name a company like Kroger or Amazon, i.e. “Participants will receive a $40 Kroger gift card.” (UK does not permit naming a company like Kroger or Amazon in advertising materials, because it is seen as the university’s endorsement of that company. You may name a company in an email message to participants and in your consent materials.)

You can say “Participants will be compensated.”​ You can say “Participants will receive a $40 gift card”​ (if IRB approves, see below).

You are not allowed to say participants will be entered into a “raffle.” You can say “entered to win” a drawing, i.e. “All participants will be entered to win a $250 gift card” (if IRB approves, see below).

The IRB considers whether listing payment constitutes “undue influence.” In some cases, it is more ethical to state “participants will be compensated for their time” but not list the dollar amount. Generally, ads for Phase I-III clinical trials and other significant risk research should not state the amount to be paid to potential participants. For other studies, the IRB considers requests to list payment amount on a case-by-case basis.

Participant recruitment ads must use royalty-free, fair-use images. These images (often called stock images) can include photography or illustrations. The following sites provide royalty-free images. Some images may include restrictions or requirements for use, and it is your responsibility to adhere to all applicable terms and conditions. 

• Adobe Stock (This is part of the enterprise license if you work with Adobe products through UK.)
  • Go to http://stock.adobe.com.
  • In the upper right corner, select “Sign In.”
  • Enter your UK email address.
  • Select “Company or School Account.”
  • It may automatically redirect you back to the Adobe Stock site (or you may have to enter your linkblue credentials).
  • Enter keywords for your search.
  • Select your image. If the image says “Education License – Standard Image” in its description, it is included in the university plan and available to download and use for free.
  • Select “License.”
  • Select Vector (AI/EPS/SVG, used for Adobe Illustrator) or JPEG (used for Adobe Photoshop). 
  • Click “Download.”
• Pexels
• UK Human Development Institute Photo Library

The CCTS Service Request Form includes a place to paste the link to the source of your image. Please provide that link.

If your ad includes photos of previous study participants, or personal images from your research lab, you must have a signed UK consent form (Standard Media Release Form) from each pictured individual. Attach the consent form to the CCTS Service Request Form as a PDF.

Provide a short explanation of what the study entails, how it will be conducted and where it will take place:

• “The study will involve two, 30-minute zoom sessions that will be scheduled at your convenience.”
• “The study team will contact you to conduct a 10- to 15-minute phone survey.”
• “Participants will complete a two-hour, in-person interview at the Healthy Kentucky Research Building on the University of Kentucky campus.”

Approval for the placement of advertising in facilities or common areas on campus must be obtained. Follow the University Signage Policy administered by the Office of University Events. Please submit your IRB approval letter with your request to Abby Franklin, Office of University Events, abbyfranklin@uky.edu.

Note: Placement of advertisements on Participant Recruitment Services (PRS) platforms are completed by PRS staff only. If you would like to advertise on these platforms, please submit a CCTS Service Request Form for PRS using steps outlined in FAQ 3.

• Make any necessary changes requested by PRR. 
• Resubmit modified documents as PDFs to rescomm@uky.edu with your name and IRB protocol #.
• Your modified documents will be reviewed/approved within two business days.
• PI and study teams who are creating their own materials accept responsibility for keeping all related IRB-documentation (protocol + approval letter)

PI’s can submit recruitment materials for review at all three timepoints named above. They can submit the materials with their initial protocol. They can submit materials after the protocol is in place (to reflect changes in delivery and/or recruitment methods). Materials need to be re-stamped (submitted for PRR) for a number of reasons, including but not limited to: if there are any modifications to study inclusion criteria, study description, staffing changes (resulting in updated contact info on materials).

If your research study is being conducted in coordination with other universities and the UK Institutional Review Board (IRB) is NOT the IRB of record, you do not have to submit your materials for PRR. For more information on this, see the FAQs on the Single IRB Reliance page. 

Sponsored-created materials (designed for multi-site national recruitment) do not require PRR. UK IRB review of these materials is still required.

Ashley Hall, Research Project Manager, Community Engagement and Participant Recruitment, CCTS
agtayl3@uky.edu
 

Alicia Gregory, Director, Research Communications
Rob Theakston, Associate Director, Research Communications
rescomm@uky.edu 

Ensure your surveys are completed by a real person (and not a bot) by building a reCAPTCHA and attestation statement into all REDCap surveys (e.g., “To proceed to the survey, please check the box and click the button below.”) See the REDCap Basic Training Guide (p 112) from Vanderbilt University to learn more. Visit UK's RedCap page to learn more. 

While bit.ly links are useful to provide shortened URLs (website addresses), they can cause issues. Participant recruitment ads with bit.ly links are likely to be blocked if distributed to Markey Cancer Center Affiliate Network (MCCAN) and Appalachian Regional Healthcare (ARH) listservs. Ensure your study recruitment materials have full URLs (web address links) that can be posted directly into emails sent through their listserv (e.g., “Find opportunities to participate in clinical research by visiting the following website: https://www.ccts.uky.edu/index.php/participate-research.”)

If your research study is funded by a federal contract, you are not permitted to use TikTok. If your study is not funded by a federal contract and you choose TikTok as a tool for participant recruitment, you will need to disclose any federal funding related to the study. Please include the principal investigator (PI) name, sponsored project title and sponsor when submitting the CCTS Service Request Form, so the PRR team can confirm the related funding. Learn more

No. We have provided a flyer template above, we have an extensive University of Kentucky collection in Photo Shelter, and, in FAQ 12 above, we outline other image collections you can utilize.

Update (4/21/2026) - On April 20, 2026, the Justice Department issued an interim final rule extending compliance deadlines for web content and mobile application accessibility. The new deadline for full compliance with Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act is April 26, 2027. UK’s Office of Legal Counsel is currently reviewing and will provide university guidance. Upon receipt of guidance, PRS will contact investigators with a revised timeline for updating their research materials.

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According to the UK's Office of Campus Accessibility and ADA, all digital resources must comply with the global standard Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.1 level AA. Web content (including digital documents like PDF and presentations) that students, patients or the public have access to must be accessible. 

It is the responsibility of the investigator to ensure participant recruitment materials meet accessibility requirements before they are submitted for Public Relations Review (PRR).

For investigators using Participant Recruitment Services (PRS) to create research recruitment materials, the PRS team will ensure all ADA requirements are met, before submitting them for Public Relations Review on your behalf. See FAQ 6 for more information.

Materials that do not meet accessibility requirements will be returned to investigators to update. Please make these updates in your original files, so when you edit those files in the future, you have taken care of common issues with alternative text for images/QR codes, document titles, etc. 

General guidelines:

• Provide alternative text for non-text elements
  • Alternative text: Commonly known as alt text, this is descriptive text that conveys the meaning of an image in digital content.
  • Images: Add descriptive alt text to necessary images, charts and graphics.
  • Decorative Elements: Mark purely decorative images so they are ignored by assistive technologies (i.e. backgrounds).
  •  See Section 508 guidance on alt text.
• Use proper document structure
  • Headings: Utilize built-in heading styles to create a logical hierarchy, aiding navigation for screen readers.
  • Lists: Employ standard list formatting for ordered and unordered lists.
  • Tables: Use tables to present data, not for layout purposes, and include clear headers.
• Ensure proper reading order
  • Verify content flows in a logical reading order, especially in PDFs, to ensure it is read correctly by screen readers.
• Use descriptive hyperlinks 
  • Write meaningful link text clearly indicating the destination or purpose.
  • Instead of link text that says “click here,” use “Visit our site for the full details of this research study.”
• Maintain accessibility during file conversion
  • When converting documents to PDF, ensure accessibility features (like tags and alt text) are preserved. Use the “Save As” or “Export” functions with accessibility options enabled.
  • Properly title your PDFs. A PDF’s internal title (metadata) often differs from its filename because it is set during document creation (e.g., in Word) and does not update when the file is renamed. Accessibility tools identify the file by this title. To change the title, select File/Properties/Description in Adobe Acrobat.
  • Open PDF in Adobe Acrobat and use the “check for accessibility” option to verify that your PDF meets accessibility requirements.
  • After conducting the accessibility test and making appropriate corrections to all materials being submitted, please attach a screenshot of the accessibility test results to the CCTS/CRSO submission form. 

For more details and links to specific guidance for Microsoft, Google and Adobe Acrobat, review UK’s “Creating Accessible Documents” guidance.

Adobe Acrobat:

Adobe Acrobat guidance: create and verify PDF accessibility: https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/create-verify-pdf-accessibility.html?trackingid=KACNN#AltTextNoContent

How to run an Accessibility check:

• All Tools 
  • View more
  • Prepare for accessibility
  • Check for accessibility
  • Click “Start checking”

Once it creates the report it will appear in the right pane. Click the > to see the details for each category that shows issues. On any issue you can right click “Explain” to be sent to documentation that describes how/where to fix the issue. 

Most common issues: 

Missing or wrong Document Title

• Document title should be more descriptive than the file name, use something like: “Caregiver Research Study Flyer” (You can change this in File, Document properties, Title)

Logical reading order

• Click the tag icon to see the Accessibility Tags panel.
• It will often tell you to check reading order manually.
• Change the number scheme of the headers (example H2, H6). These need to go from small numbers (H2) — tells screen reader to read it first — to big numbers, but do not skip any numbers. (Changing this will not change the font size on the flyer.) To change the Header, right click on the item, choose “Properties” and select a different Header number, and choose “Close.”
• Check that bulleted lists <L> are associated with the right headers, if not, you can drag and drop the list under the appropriate header.

Empty tags

• You can delete empty tags within the Accessibility Tags panel if they are not associated with any content.

QR codes:

While Quick Response (QR) codes offer a convenient link to information, users with disabilities may need alternative ways to access the same content. Provide a text alternative or URL link adjacent to the QR code.

Provide appropriate alt text for the QR code describing where the QR code link takes you/for what purpose.

Alt text examples: 

• “QR code links to the research study details webpage.”
• “QR code links to research study sign-up form.”

Social Media:

Providing alt text for social media posts, including images, happens at the point those resources are uploaded. Please refer to accessibility guidance for the social media tool you use to post. 

Canva:

Templates and resources for participant recruitment advertising will be made available through Canva shortly. A step-by-step deep dive into the accessibility process is available on Canva’s website.

Users can also run their own accessibility checks. In Editor mode, Select File/Accessibility/Check Design Accessibility. Canva will evaluate your design based on accessibility criteria and return suggestions for improvement.