Survey software for research, with ethics documents ready to attach

The audit trail is a link a reviewer can open.

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What is Research Mode?

Research Mode includes features required for academic research: tamper-evident audit trails, consent page builder, SPSS export, and research ethics documentation. It’s standard on every Candor Surveys account, not an add-on.

Feature Research Mode
Audit trail ✓ Tamper-evident timestamps
SPSS export ✓ Variables + labels
Consent workflow ✓ Built-in builder
Ethics board documentation ✓ 6 PDFs, no email
Individual signup ✓ No institution needed
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Academic pricing details

For your ethics submission

Answering an ethics application? The questions a protocol form asks (where data is stored, who has access, how long it’s kept) are answered in plain language you can adapt. Where the answer is yours rather than ours, the page says so.

Information for ethics submissions

Using Candor’s optional AI features in a study? See what each one sends, and the answers for your form.

Boards, whether called an IRB, REB, or ethics committee, sometimes want supporting documents on file as well. These are ready to attach.

  • Security overview: encryption, access control, data retention
  • Audit trail specification: how timestamps work and what's logged
  • Data handling policy: retention, deletion and data export
  • Consent workflow documentation: how consent is captured and stored
  • Compliance summary: what we do and don’t claim
  • Sample methodology citation: copy into your methods section
Download the supporting documents (.zip, 6 PDFs)

Exports come as CSV (for R, Stata, Excel), Excel, SPSS (a .sps syntax file plus data), PDF, Word, and PowerPoint. CSV, Excel, and SPSS exports include when each response was started and completed.

No email required. Downloads as a .zip file containing 6 PDF documents. Double‑click to open.

How the work usually runs

  1. Ethics board preparation

    • Download the supporting documents
    • Review the security overview
    • Copy sample methodology citation into ethics board application

  2. Survey design

    • Use consent page builder for informed consent
    • Add your research questions
    • Preview survey as respondent would see it

  3. Data collection

    • Share link or embed on your website
    • Monitor response count in real-time
    • Audit trail logs every survey edit during collection

  4. Analysis

    • Export to SPSS, R, or Stata with proper variable formatting
    • Download audit trail for methodology appendix
    • Generate PDF report for committee presentation

  5. Long-term storage

    • Archive survey after study closes
    • Export all data and audit logs for institutional repository
    • Delete account if no longer needed (export data first, because deletion is permanent)
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How to cite Candor Surveys

Copy whichever format fits your paper, ethics board application, or data availability statement.

Methods Section

Survey data were collected using Candor Surveys (Golden Hills Software, Inc., Colorado Springs, CO), a web-based survey platform featuring a tamper-evident audit trail, configurable consent workflows, and encrypted data handling. Responses were collected between [START DATE] and [END DATE]. Data were exported in SPSS format for analysis using [SPSS/R/Stata version]. The complete audit trail documenting all survey modifications during the data collection period is available in [Appendix X / Supplementary Materials].

APA 7th Edition

Golden Hills Software, Inc. (2026). Candor Surveys [Web-based survey platform]. https://usecandor.app

Data Availability Statement

Survey instruments, response data, and audit trail exports are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. All data were collected using Candor Surveys (https://usecandor.app) with Research Mode enabled, which provides timestamped, tamper-evident logging of all survey modifications.

Ethics Board Application: Technical Specifications

Data will be collected using Candor Surveys, a web-based survey platform by Golden Hills Software, Inc. (Colorado Springs, CO). The platform provides:

• Encryption: written answers encrypted at rest (AES-256), TLS 1.2+ in transit
• Data storage: managed PostgreSQL hosted by Render, United States (Virginia)
• Audit trail: Tamper-evident, hash-chained, timestamped log of all survey modifications, verifiable on demand (entries cannot be altered by the survey creator through the application)
• Consent capture: Built-in consent page with timestamped acceptance records
• Access control: Role-based. Only explicitly invited collaborators can view responses.
• Data export: SPSS (.sps syntax + .csv data) with variable labels and value coding preserved, CSV, and PDF
• Bot protection: Cloudflare Turnstile (invisible, on by default, can be disabled per survey in the Response protection section when publishing). The check runs in the participant's browser against Cloudflare, so Cloudflare receives the participant's IP address. The platform keeps the check's result on each response and nothing else from it. What Cloudflare retains is governed by Cloudflare.
• Data retention: Responses retained until researcher-initiated deletion. Subscription lapse does not delete data. At account deletion, collected responses are removed immediately and permanently.

Changed in October 2026: the box now says that written answers are what is encrypted at rest and that the audit trail is tamper-evident rather than write-only. It also adds lines on access control and bot protection. If you pasted the earlier box into an application, check it against the lines above. The bot protection line was revised after the box first went up: it now says Cloudflare receives the participant's IP address because the check runs in the participant's browser.

Your ethics board will ask how you collected data. Adapt terminology (IRB, REB, ethics committee) to match your institution.

Ready when your ethics board is

Start your first survey free Download the supporting documents (.zip)
You collect responses for 30 days after you publish. No credit card required.

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