Research · free template

Research Consent Form

Informed consent with separate opt-ins for recording, quoting, data reuse and re-contact.

A ready-to-use research & data collection form for small teams who need a reliable intake process: 15 questions, 3 pages, 4 conditional rules.

Questions: 15
Pages: 3
Layouts: classic · card
Conditional rules: 4

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Live preview and test console

This is the real form. Answer it to test the 2 conditional rules — nothing is sent or stored.

Page 1 of 3 — About the study

Every question on this page is currently visible.

Ready to publish

Payment items priced — passingEvery payment question charges a real amount, so a submission always records a payment.
Conditional logic resolves — passingEvery rule points at a question or page that exists in this template.
Legal text not required — passingThis template collects neither health nor regulated financial information.
Question labels unique — passingLogic and exports address questions by label, so duplicates are ambiguous.

What happens after submit: nothing is stored in this preview. On your own copy, every response triggers an instant email notification and lands in your response dashboard, ready to export or forward.

Happy with it? Take a copy into your workspace — every question, rule and setting comes with it.

Who this template is for

Research Consent Form is built for small teams who need a reliable intake process who need to collect the same complete information from everyone.

Small teams who need a reliable intake process working in research & data collection.
Teams who need to collect the same complete information from everyone without writing code or paying for a custom build.
Anyone replacing chasing missing details over email with one structured record per enquiry.
Respondents are the people you send it to — the form asks them 15 questions across 3 screens.
Mobile-heavy audiences, thanks to the one-question-per-screen card layout.

Why this form is useful

It removes the cost of chasing missing details over email and turns each submission into a record your team can act on immediately.

12 questions are required, so submissions arrive complete instead of needing a follow-up email.
It collects a verified email address so replies and confirmations land.
It records a signature you can keep as proof of agreement.
It pins the request to a specific date.
Conditional logic hides 4 questions until they are relevant — shorter forms convert better than long ones.
Splitting the form across 3 pages keeps each screen short and shows respondents how much is left.
Every response is stored, searchable and exportable, so nothing depends on one person's inbox.

How to use this template

From copy to live form is a few minutes of work, and every step is reversible.

1Press “Use this template” — a fresh copy of Research Consent Form lands in your workspace, ready to edit.
2Rename or delete any question, and change what is required. Nothing here is fixed.
3Open Notifications and add the email addresses that should be alerted on each submission; add an auto-reply to the respondent if the form collects an email address.
4Publish it, then either share the link directly or paste the embed snippet into your site — the embedded form resizes to fit and loads no marketing or advertising trackers.
5Watch responses land in Submissions, where you can filter, label and export them to CSV or PDF.

Logic and conditions blueprint

Exactly how this form behaves as it is answered — 4 conditional rules ship with it.

Features conditional hiding: if “Do you consent to take part in this study?” is No, “Signature” is removed from the form and is never submitted.
Features advanced show logic: if “Are you completing this on behalf of someone else?” is Yes, the form dynamically exposes “Your relationship to the participant”. Otherwise that question never appears.
Features conditional validation: if “Are you completing this on behalf of someone else?” is Yes, “Your relationship to the participant” becomes mandatory before the form can be sent.
Features conditional validation: if “Would you like a copy of this consent record?” is Yes, “Email address” becomes mandatory before the form can be sent.
All 4 rules are editable in the Logic tab, and the built-in checker warns about rules that contradict each other.

About this template

Informed consent is a set of separate decisions, and this form treats it that way. The participant reads a short plain-language summary of the study — purpose, what taking part involves, how long it takes, what happens to the data and who to contact — and then answers each permission on its own line: consent to take part, consent to be audio or video recorded, consent to be quoted anonymously, consent for the anonymised data to be reused in future research, and consent to be contacted again. Someone can agree to the interview and refuse the recording, which is a normal and legitimate position that a single tick box quietly erases. Withdrawal is stated in concrete terms, including the point after which data can no longer be pulled out of an analysis, because a vague promise is worse than an honest limit. A signature and date close the record, and a copy can be emailed to the participant so they keep what they agreed to. This is a starting point drafted for clarity, not legal advice — your own ethics committee or data protection lead has the final word on the wording.

What this form asks

Every question is editable — rename it, make it optional, or delete it entirely.

Page 1 — About the study

Study titlerequired
Participant code
Study summary

Page 2 — Your permissions

Do you consent to take part in this study?required
Do you consent to the session being audio or video recorded?required
Do you consent to being quoted anonymously in reports?required
Do you consent to your anonymised data being reused in future research?required
May we contact you again about this study?required

Page 3 — Sign and confirm

Are you completing this on behalf of someone else?required
Your relationship to the participant
Name of person signingrequired
Signaturerequired
Daterequired
Would you like a copy of this consent record?required
Email addressrequired

15 questions in total.

How the form changes as it's filled in

This template ships with 4 conditional rules, grouped into 4 behaviours driven by 3 questions. Everything below is already set up — edit or delete any rule once the template is in your workspace.

Driven by “Do you consent to take part in this study?”

Hides questions
If “Do you consent to take part in this study?” is No, the form hides “Signature”, so nobody answers questions that don't apply.

Driven by “Are you completing this on behalf of someone else?”

Reveals questions
If “Are you completing this on behalf of someone else?” is Yes, the form reveals “Your relationship to the participant”.
Makes answers required
If “Are you completing this on behalf of someone else?” is Yes, “Your relationship to the participant” becomes required before the form can be submitted.

Driven by “Would you like a copy of this consent record?”

Makes answers required
If “Would you like a copy of this consent record?” is Yes, “Email address” becomes required before the form can be submitted.

Set it up step by step

1
Paste in your study summary
Replace the summary text with your approved participant information sheet wording.
2
Keep every permission separate
Recording, quoting, reuse and re-contact are four decisions, not one.
3
State the withdrawal deadline
Say the date or milestone after which data cannot be removed from the analysis.
4
Name a real contact
Give a monitored address for questions and complaints, not a generic inbox.
5
Store consent apart from data
Keep consent records in their own place, linked only by participant code.

Mistakes to avoid

Bundling recording, quoting and data reuse into one tick box, which is not informed consent.
Omitting how long data is kept and who can see it.
Leaving no withdrawal route, or one that only works before analysis without saying so.

What it pairs with

Most teams don't run this form on its own. These are the forms and systems it sits next to.

What to do with the responses

Store consent records separately from the research data, keyed by participant code, and honour any withdrawal request against that key.

Works in both layouts

Browse classic templates Browse card templates

Forms that overlap this one

These pages cover the same subject ground as the research consent form, matched on the words people actually search for.

Frequently asked questions

Does a typed signature count?

For most low-risk studies a signature field plus a timestamp is accepted, but your ethics committee or legal team decides what is sufficient for your study.

Why split recording from participation?

Because they carry different risks. Plenty of people will talk to you but not be recorded, and forcing one tick box loses those participants entirely.

What about participants under 18?

You will normally need parental or guardian consent alongside the young person's own assent. The 'on behalf of someone else' branch is the starting point for that.

How long should consent records be kept?

Usually as long as the research data, and stated explicitly in the summary. Your institution's retention policy sets the number.

Is the Research Consent Form template free to use?

Yes. You can preview and test Research Consent Form on this page without an account, and take a copy into your own HelloForms workspace on the free plan. There is nothing to install and no card required to publish it.

What does the Research Consent Form template ask for?

It asks 15 questions across 3 pages, 12 of which are required. Every question is listed in full further down this page, and each one can be renamed, reordered, made optional or deleted after you copy the template.

Can I edit the Research Consent Form form after copying it?

Yes — the copy is entirely yours. Change wording, add or remove questions, switch between the classic and card layouts, restyle it to match your brand, and set who gets notified on each submission.

How does the conditional logic in this research & data collection form work?

4 conditional rules ship with the template: Features conditional hiding: if “Do you consent to take part in this study?” is No, “Signature” is removed from the form and is never submitted. Features advanced show logic: if “Are you completing this on behalf of someone else?” is Yes, the form dynamically exposes “Your relationship to the participant”. Otherwise that question never appears. Features conditional validation: if “Are you completing this on behalf of someone else?” is Yes, “Your relationship to the participant” becomes mandatory before the form can be sent. All rules are editable in the Logic tab.

Where do responses to the Research Consent Form form go?

Submissions land in your workspace under Submissions, where you can search, filter, label and export them to CSV or PDF. You can also email a notification to your team on every submission and send the respondent an auto-reply.

Can I embed the Research Consent Form form on my own website?

Yes. Publish the form and paste the embed snippet into any page or share the direct link. The embedded form resizes to fit its container and loads no advertising or marketing trackers inside the iframe.

Is the signature on this form legally usable?

The template captures a drawn signature and stores it with the submission, along with the timestamp, so you keep evidence of who agreed and when. Whether that is sufficient depends on your jurisdiction and the agreement itself.

More forms teams pair with the research consent form.

Related categories

All Research & Data Collection templates