Researchers: anything posted outside of this mega-thread or lacking in authenticity will be removed. Scroll down for details of what we expect here.
Read if you are a member/responder
While we have some ability to remove more easily detectable scams, we aren't professionals in any relevant fields. That means we aren't able to take full responsibility for vetting the research you find here, you will have to do your best to feel safe and comfortable with any interactions you have with the people here. That said, we do have some tips to help you navigate the requests you'll find here.
Academic research
Is it undergraduate, post-graduate/masters, or PhD? There's a fair bit of difference here, mainly in what you can expect as an outcome. Undergraduate and post-graduate research isn't likely to result in anything but a dissertation, so participation in these should be considered as just doing a kindness to a student. Masters students are much more likely to use what they learn in a professional context or carry it on to a PhD, though. The "proper" research is done by PhD candidates, the kind you're probably expecting where the eventual paper goes into a journal and the outcome an effect on the rest of the industry.
Professional, government, & medical research
These are people who study autism for a living and/or are sponsored by a government or a medical organisation. It would be exceptionally rare for these researchers to come to our little sub for help, they get their participants through professional networks. Be very wary of anyone claiming to be doing this level of research unless it comes to you directly through your therapist, GP, or psychologist.
Commercial research
These people are looking for your feedback so they can sell a product or service to autistic people. They tend to have the fewest legitimate credentials, but they shouldn't ever need any identifying information from you, not even your name. At best the outcome is something useful to us and at worst they're trying to "make a buck" from a vulnerable minority. Generally speaking you're probably not at risk by replying to these, but you will probably be participating in some degree of capitalism.
Art research
Art is cool and important. Anyone asking for input for art research shouldn't need any identifying information and, unlike commercial research, the outcome should hopefully be something culturally valuable if not influential. There is a lot for us to gain from the cultural capital of art, academic and professional studies aren't the be all end all of making a difference for autistic people.
The only thing to watch out for is someone trying to persuade you they need such and such data for their funding applications. They only need broad strokes in a few categories, typically something like location, age, disability, gender, or sexuality. Gathering this from you should typically come in the form of "are you x?", to which you only need to answer yes or no. Do you identify as queer/trans/gay? Are you a person of colour? Are you deaf/visually impaired/autistic? Do you require a wheelchair in daily life? Are you from Bristol/Knowle West/North Bristol? Are you between 16 and 25 years of age?
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Read if you are a researcher
Is it research?
Research is more than what universities are up to. Companies, developers, freelancers, artists, and all sorts also do research. Anything where you come here to ask for the opinions of our members for your work or personal use is considered research and is subject to these rules.
DISCLAIMER
Please understand that our mods are not experts and will not always qualify for each bit of research and therefore cannot look closely at every questionnaire. Any vetting done is on the basis of our non-professional judgment. We do not vouch for the safety and ethics of any research we allow to post, our only aim is to get rid of the really obviously dodgy ones. If you reply to any of the research posted, you take responsibility for choosing to do so.
Credibility
When vetting these posts, we look for specific things that lend credibility to the research and we will often lean towards expecting more due to our lack of expertise. Below are some of our feelings on what shows Good, Excellent, or Dodgy credibility.
GOOD: your university email, your supervisor's university email, a link to your university's research ethics statement, a Reddit account you don't use much but clearly belongs to a real human, your project's/company's/artist's website, a socials link, etc
EXCELLENT: a qualtrics link, a university webpage specific to the research, a well-aged high karma Reddit account, a list of everything that will be asked, an ethics committee approval number, a shop page for the current version of your app, a gallery press release for this project, etc
DODGY: hiding URLs behind link text, google forms (especially where required questions block mods from reviewing later pages), personal emails, undergraduate research, a Reddit account you created yesterday specifically for this research, etc
The credibility of your research must be present in the text of your comment. We will not click through, we will just remove. Include plenty Good and Excellent things and you'll get approved. Only include one dodgy thing and your comment will probably get removed. You can always edit your comment to show more credibility and then request that we review it for later approval.
