Terms of Service

1. About StudyLane

StudyLane is an independent platform that helps participants discover research participation opportunities and allows research teams to share study listings with the UCLA community. StudyLane is operated by StudyLane LLC, a California limited liability company (“StudyLane,” “we,” or “us”).

StudyLane is a discovery, scheduling, and participation-tracking platform. StudyLane may review listings before they are published, but it does not conduct, sponsor, or supervise the research studies listed on the platform, and a listing’s appearance on StudyLane is not ethics or IRB approval.

StudyLane is not affiliated with, endorsed by, operated by, or an official service of UCLA or the University of California.

How StudyLane collects, uses, shares, and keeps personal information is described in the StudyLane Privacy Policy.

2. Eligibility

You need a UCLA email address to create a participant account. People without a UCLA email can only have a guest account (section 18).

Users under 18 may use StudyLane in line with UCLA’s policies and practices for students under 18. Each study sets its own age requirement. A study that includes participants under 18 must have institutional review board (IRB) approval to do so, and its research team is responsible for meeting that approval’s requirements, including any parental permission.

You must provide accurate and current information when registering. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your login credentials and for activity conducted through your account.

You may not share your account with another person or create an account using false information.

3. Participant Accounts

StudyLane allows participants to browse and express interest in research opportunities. A listing does not guarantee that you:

• Meet a study’s eligibility requirements;
• Will be selected or contacted;
• Will be enrolled in the study;
• Will receive compensation; or
• Will receive any academic, medical, or other benefit.

Research participation is voluntary. You are responsible for reviewing the information supplied by the research team and deciding whether you wish to proceed.

Questions about eligibility, informed consent, study procedures, risks, appointments, withdrawals, or compensation must be directed to the research team responsible for the study.

4. Researcher Accounts and Listings

By creating a researcher account or submitting a study listing, you represent that:

• You are authorized to act on behalf of the identified researcher, laboratory, department, institution, or organization.
• The information in the listing is accurate, current, and not misleading.
• The study has received all approvals required before recruitment begins, including institutional or ethics approval when applicable.
• If the study can include participants under 18, its IRB approval covers them, and you will obtain any parental permission it requires; if not, you will limit the study to participants 18 or older.
• The recruitment language and methods used through StudyLane are consistent with the study’s approved recruitment procedures.
• You will promptly update or pause listings that are no longer recruiting.
• You will comply with applicable laws, institutional policies, and professional obligations.
• You will not request information that is unnecessary for determining study eligibility or recruitment.

Research teams are solely responsible for their studies, including screening, informed consent, participant communication, scheduling, data collection, safety procedures, regulatory compliance, and payment of compensation.

StudyLane may request verification of a researcher’s identity, institutional affiliation, authority, or study approval before or after allowing a listing to appear.

5. Study Information

Study listings are created or supplied by independent research teams. StudyLane does not guarantee that listings are complete, accurate, current, lawful, safe, or suitable for a particular user.

Compensation amounts, time commitments, locations, eligibility requirements, and study procedures may change. Users should confirm important information directly with the responsible research team before participating.

StudyLane is not responsible for disputes between users and research teams, including disputes involving eligibility, scheduling, participation, withdrawal, compensation, or representations made in a study listing.

6. No Medical Advice

StudyLane does not provide medical, psychological, legal, academic, or professional advice.

Information displayed through StudyLane should not be treated as a diagnosis, treatment recommendation, medical record, or substitute for consultation with an appropriately qualified professional.

In an emergency, contact emergency services rather than using StudyLane.

7. Prohibited Conduct

You may not use StudyLane to:

• Provide false, fraudulent, or misleading information;
• Impersonate another person, researcher, laboratory, or institution;
• Post a study without proper authorization;
• Recruit participants for an unlawful or unapproved activity;
• Harass, threaten, discriminate against, or exploit another user;
• Circumvent eligibility requirements or screening procedures;
• Collect passwords, Social Security numbers, financial account information, or other information unrelated to legitimate recruitment;
• Upload malware or interfere with the security or operation of the platform;
• Scrape, copy, resell, or systematically extract platform content without written permission;
• Access another user’s account or restricted areas of the platform;
• Use StudyLane to send spam or unauthorized advertising; or
• Violate applicable law, institutional policy, or third-party rights.

8. User Content

You retain ownership of content you submit to StudyLane.

By submitting a listing, image, description, or other content, you give StudyLane a nonexclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, reproduce, format, display, and distribute that content as reasonably necessary to operate StudyLane, including showing your listings to participants. This license does not cover personal information, which StudyLane handles only as described in the Privacy Policy.

You represent that you have the necessary rights and permissions to submit that content.

If you set up a lab on StudyLane, StudyLane may show the lab’s name and logo on its website and in materials about StudyLane to identify the lab as a user of the platform. This does not mean the lab or its institution endorses StudyLane. A lab admin can ask StudyLane to stop at any time by writing to support@studylane.org.

StudyLane may remove, restrict, correct, or decline to publish content that is inaccurate, outdated, misleading, unauthorized, unsafe, or inconsistent with these Terms.

9. Intellectual Property

StudyLane™ identifies the StudyLane platform and related services.

StudyLane’s software, design, branding, text, graphics, and original platform content are owned by StudyLane or its licensors and are protected by applicable intellectual-property laws.

Except as expressly permitted, you may not copy, modify, distribute, sell, license, reverse engineer, or create derivative works from StudyLane or its proprietary content.

Names, logos, and trademarks belonging to universities, laboratories, research institutions, or other organizations remain the property of their respective owners. Their appearance on StudyLane does not imply endorsement or affiliation.

10. Third-Party Services and Links

StudyLane may link to external screening forms, scheduling systems, consent platforms, laboratory websites, or other third-party services.

StudyLane does not control and is not responsible for the content, availability, security, privacy practices, or conduct of those third parties. Your use of an external service is governed by that service’s own terms and policies.

11. Account Suspension and Termination

StudyLane may suspend, restrict, or terminate an account or listing when reasonably necessary to:

• Protect users or the platform;
• Investigate suspected fraud or misuse;
• Address inaccurate or unauthorized listings;
• Comply with legal or institutional requests; or
• Enforce these Terms.

You may stop using StudyLane at any time. You can delete your account from your account settings or by contacting us at the address below. The Privacy Policy explains what is kept after deletion, including course-credit records.

12. Platform Availability

StudyLane is provided on an early-access and “as available” basis.

StudyLane may add, remove, test, suspend, or modify features at any time. We do not guarantee that the platform will always be available, uninterrupted, secure, or error-free, or that information will never be lost.

13. Disclaimer of Warranties

To the fullest extent permitted by law, StudyLane is provided without warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, or statutory.

StudyLane disclaims implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, noninfringement, and any warranty arising from course of dealing or usage.

StudyLane does not warrant the conduct of any participant, researcher, laboratory, institution, or other user.

14. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, StudyLane and its operators will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages arising from or related to:

• Your use of or inability to use StudyLane;
• A study listing or research opportunity;
• Participation or attempted participation in a study;
• The conduct of a user or research team;
• External websites or services;
• Unauthorized access to an account; or
• The loss of information or platform availability.

StudyLane’s total liability for claims arising out of or relating to the platform will not exceed the greater of the amount you paid to StudyLane during the preceding 12 months or $100.

Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations of liability, so portions of this section may not apply to you.

15. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to conflict-of-law principles.

Any dispute that is not resolved informally will be brought in a court of competent jurisdiction located in Los Angeles County, California, unless applicable law requires otherwise.

16. Changes to These Terms

StudyLane may update these Terms as the platform develops.

The updated Terms will be posted with a revised effective date. When legally required or when changes are material, StudyLane may provide additional notice.

Continued use of StudyLane after updated Terms become effective constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

18. Guest Accounts

A UCLA research team can invite someone without a UCLA email to one of its paid studies, by email or through the study’s guest link. That person can create a guest account.

• You must be 18 or older to create a guest account.
• A guest account shows the studies you were invited to or signed up for through a link, and any study you booked. Once a research team records that you took part in a study, or an administrator of the department group you joined through approves you, it also shows that group’s studies whose teams chose to show them to StudyLane guests. It never includes studies open only to UCLA students, course credit, the prescreen, or research positions.
• Some of those studies sign people up on the research team’s own website. That website and its terms are the team’s, not StudyLane’s.
• If you are a UCLA student, use your UCLA participant account instead.
• Sections 3, 5, 6 and 7 apply to guest accounts as they do to participant accounts. The research team is responsible for its study, including eligibility, consent, and payment. StudyLane keeps track of what the lab pays you but never moves money, and never asks for tax, address, or bank details.
• StudyLane, UCLA, or department group administrators may close a guest account at any time. A guest account whose email is never confirmed is deleted after 7 days, and one with no sign-in, booking, or invitation for 12 months is deleted.