ArticleInternet interventions2021
Liar! Liar! Identifying eligibility fraud by applicants in digital health research.
Article in Internet interventions, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 51 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
51 citing papers in PubMed, 95 citations in OpenAlex.
- A randomized controlled trial of a brief online intervention to reduce alcohol misuse and promote treatment initiation among veterans.Journal of consulting and clinical psychology · 2026Trial
- Acceptability, Feasibility, and Outcome Responsiveness of the Joint Effort Mobile App for Promoting Lower-Risk Cannabis Use Among Young Adults: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2026Trial
- Pilot study examining the effect of rurality on engagement and abstinence for adult users of a text-message cessation intervention.BMC public health · 2025Trial
- Impact of Ecological Momentary Assessment Participation on Short-Term Smoking Cessation: quitSTART Ecological Momentary Assessment Incentivization Randomized Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Trial
- Caregivers' Internet-Delivered Insomnia Intervention Engagement and Benefit: SHUTi-CARE Trial Primary Quantitative Analysis.Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2024Trial
- Traumatic Brain Injury Positive Strategies for Families: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of an Online Parent-Training Program.Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation · 2023Trial
- Effects of an internet-delivered insomnia intervention for older adults: A secondary analysis on symptoms of depression and anxiety.Journal of behavioral medicine · 2022Trial
- Practical Fraud Detection and Prevention in Incentivized Online Surveys: Secondary Analysis of the ADOPT Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Medical Appointments are Associated With Same-Day Worry and Sleep Difficulties Among Cancer Survivors.Psycho-oncology · 2026Article
- Optimizing participation in digital health studies: understanding appointment attendance.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA · 2026Article
- A culturally tailored virtual intervention for Alzheimer's family caregivers: Addressing practical challenges and future directions.Archives of gerontology and geriatrics plus · 2026Article
- "Better Sleep Means I'm Better Able to Provide Care": Caregivers' Perceived Impacts of an Internet-Delivered Insomnia Intervention.International journal of behavioral medicine · 2026Article
- Global Mind Project data in the United States: A comparison with national statistics.International journal of population data science · 2026Article
- Quantifying acute care nurses' experiences of patient handoffs during shift change: a cross-sectional study.BMC nursing · 2025Article
- Identifying Time-Variant Predictors of Interest in Completing Brief Digital Mental Health Interventions Among Adult Survivors of Cancer: Ecological Momentary Assessment Study.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2025Observational
- Gerontologists combating fraudulent research participants: recommendations from design to dissemination.The Gerontologist · 2025Article
- Lessons Learned Identifying and Controlling Fraudulent Participation in Online Randomized Trials.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Flagged for Fraud: Lessons From 3 Case Studies on Detecting Inauthentic Participants in Online Research.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Testing the efficacy and mechanisms of an SMS intervention focused on motivating peer network support to reduce alcohol consumption in non-collegiate young adults: Protocol for a randomized trial.Contemporary clinical trials · 2025Article
- I have been scammed in my qualitative research.Research integrity and peer review · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Online studies enable researchers to recruit large, diverse samples, but the nature of these studies provides an opportunity for applicants to misrepresent themselves to increase the likelihood of meeting eligibility criteria for a trial, particularly those that provide financial incentives. This study describes rates of fraudulent applications to an online intervention trial of an Internet intervention for insomnia among older adults (ages ≥55). Applicants were recruited using traditional (e.g., flyers, health providers), online (e.g., Craigslist, Internet searches), and social media (e.g., Facebook) recruitment methods. Applicants first submitted an interest form that included identifying information (name, date of birth, address). This data was then queried against a national database (TransUnion's TLOxp) to determine the application's verification status. Applications were determined to be verified (i.e., information from interest form matched TLOxp report), potentially fraudulent (i.e., potential discrepancy in provided information on interest form versus TLOxp report), or fraudulent (i.e., confirmed discrepancy). Of 1766 total interest forms received, 125 (7.08%) were determined to be fraudulent. Enrollment attempts that were fraudulent were detected among 12.22% of applicants who reported learning of the study through online, 7.04% through social media, 4.58% through traditional, and 4.27% through other methods. Researchers conducting online trials should take precautions, as applicants may provide fraudulent information to gain access to their studies. Reviewing all applications and verifying the identities and eligibility of participants is critical to the integrity of online research trials.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.