Signing example
Sign a research participant consent form online
A research consent form has to show that the participant read the information sheet, agreed to each statement separately, and was told one of them was optional. This four page information sheet and consent form for a six week sleep study puts six statements on the last page, each with its own box, followed by the participant's and the researcher's signatures.
The document, with its fields
The pages as a signer sees them, with the signature, name, title and date fields placed where each party has to complete them.
Participant Information Sheet and Consent Form
1. Study title
ShiftRest: a six week study of sleep, light exposure and recovery in nurses working rotating shifts.
2. Who is running the study
| Chief investigator | Dr Callum Reyes, senior lecturer, School of Nursing, Kingsford Bay University |
|---|---|
| Co-investigators | Associate Professor Nadia Volkov and Ms Tia Ruatapu, research nurse |
| Funding | A university research grant. No company is funding or involved in the study |
| Ethics approval | The University's Human Research Ethics Committee, approval HREC 2026/118 |
3. Why you are being invited
You are invited because you are a registered nurse working rotating day, evening and night shifts in a public hospital. About 60 nurses from three hospitals will take part. Please read this information carefully and ask us about anything you do not understand. Taking part is entirely voluntary. Your decision will not affect your employment, your relationship with your hospital or your relationship with the University.
4. What the study is about
Nurses on rotating shifts sleep less and less regularly than most workers, which affects health and may affect safety. We want to understand how the timing of light exposure during and after night shifts relates to how well nurses sleep on their days off. What we learn will be used to write practical guidance for nurses and hospital rosters.
5. What you will be asked to do
| When | What | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Start | Online questionnaire about your sleep, health and roster, and a 20 minute video call to fit the devices | 45 minutes |
| Weeks 1 to 6 | Wear a wrist sleep tracker and a small light sensor clipped to your collar, day and night | None extra |
| Each morning | Two minute sleep diary on your phone | 2 minutes |
| End | Return the devices by prepaid post and complete a final questionnaire | 30 minutes |
6. Possible benefits
You may not benefit directly. At the end you will receive a personal summary of your sleep and light exposure over the six weeks, which some nurses find useful. You will receive a $100 gift card after returning the devices, to thank you for your time. You receive it even if you withdraw partway, as long as the devices are returned.
7. Possible risks and discomforts
The devices are light and most people forget they are wearing them, but the wrist tracker can irritate the skin; you may take it off at any time. Answering questions about your sleep and health is not expected to cause distress. If it does, you may skip any question, and the Employee Assistance Program at your hospital offers free, confidential counselling. The study does not test any treatment and does not change your roster.
8. Withdrawing from the study
You may withdraw at any time without giving a reason, by telling the research nurse by email or phone. If you withdraw, we stop collecting data from you. You may ask us to destroy the data already collected, up until the data are combined for analysis on 30 April 2027; after that, because the data are de-identified, it is no longer possible to find and remove yours. Withdrawing will not affect your employment or your relationship with the University.
9. What happens to your information
Your questionnaire answers, sleep and light data are labelled with a study code, not your name. The key linking codes to names is kept separately in a locked university system that only the research nurse can access. De-identified data are stored on the University's secure research storage for at least 15 years after publication and then destroyed. Your hospital will not see your data. Results will be published in journals and at conferences in a way that no individual can be identified.
10. Costs to you
Taking part costs you nothing. The devices are posted to you and returned in a prepaid satchel. Video calls are booked around your roster, never during a shift, and you may use your phone's data or the hospital's guest wifi.
11. Future use of the data
With your separate consent in statement 6 on page 4, your de-identified data may be shared with other approved researchers for future studies on shift work and sleep, if an ethics committee approves that use. You can take part in ShiftRest without agreeing to this.
12. Results
A plain language summary of the overall results will be emailed to every participant who asks for it, expected in late 2027. Your personal six week summary is sent within a month of returning the devices.
13. If you are injured
The study involves no procedures beyond wearing two small devices. If you believe you have been harmed by taking part, contact the chief investigator. The University holds insurance for research it conducts.
14. Contacts
| For | Contact |
|---|---|
| Questions about the study | Ms Tia Ruatapu, research nurse, 07 5521 3390, shiftrest@kingsfordbay.example |
| The chief investigator | Dr Callum Reyes, 07 5521 3301, c.reyes@kingsfordbay.example |
| Concerns or complaints about the conduct of the study | Human Research Ethics Committee, ethics@kingsfordbay.example, quoting HREC 2026/118. This contact is independent of the research team |
15. Your copy
When everyone has signed, you will receive a certified copy of this information sheet and your signed consent form by email. Please keep it. If you would like a printed copy, ask the research nurse at the device fitting call.
16. Before you sign
Please make sure you have read pages 1 to 3, have had the chance to ask questions and are satisfied with the answers, and know that you can withdraw at any time. The consent form is on the next page. Each statement has its own box. Type an X in the box to agree with that statement. Statements 1 to 5 are needed to take part; statement 6 is optional, and the research nurse will explain the difference before you sign if you ask.
17. Summary of what taking part involves
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Length | Six weeks |
| Devices | One wrist tracker and one collar light sensor |
| Your time | About 75 minutes of questionnaires and calls, plus 2 minutes a day |
| Thank you | $100 gift card on return of the devices |
Consent form
ShiftRest study, HREC 2026/118, version 3, 14 August 2026. The participant types an X beside each statement they agree with.
| Agree | Statement |
|---|---|
| 1. I have read the participant information sheet, and any questions I asked were answered to my satisfaction. | |
| 2. I understand what I will be asked to do, including wearing two devices for six weeks. | |
| 3. I understand that taking part is voluntary and that I may withdraw at any time without giving a reason. | |
| 4. I understand my data can be removed only until 30 April 2027, when it is combined for analysis. | |
| 5. I agree that de-identified results may be published, so long as I cannot be identified. | |
| 6. Optional: I agree my de-identified data may be shared for future ethics approved research on shift work and sleep. |
Who signs what
- Tamsin Okoro, participant
- Six consent statements on page 4, an X beside each · Signature, stamped date and name on page 4 · Email link
- Dr Callum Reyes, chief investigator
- Signature, stamped date and name on page 4, as the researcher who explained the study · Email link
The signing journey
Step 1
Twelve fields on the consent page
Six checkboxes, a signature, a date and a name for the participant, then a signature, a date and a name for the researcher.
Step 2
Five required, one optional
Statements 1 to 5 are required to take part, so their boxes cannot be left empty. Statement 6, sharing data for future research, has Required switched off.
Step 3
The participant reads and marks
Tamsin opens the link, reads pages 1 to 3, and types an X beside all six statements, including the optional one.
Step 4
The researcher signs after
Dr Reyes is invited once her signature lands, and signs as the researcher who explained the study. His name fills from his recipient record.
Every field, and who fills it
Tamsin Okoro types an X in the Agree column beside each of the six statements on page 4, then signs in the left column, where her date is stamped and her name fills from her recipient record. Dr Callum Reyes signs in the right column under Researcher who explained the study, with his own date and name. The study title, the approval number HREC 2026/118, the withdrawal deadline of 30 April 2027 and the $100 gift card are printed.
How to adapt this envelope
A study with a separate optional sub study, such as a blood sample, adds another optional box for it. A study enrolling young people adds a parent as a recipient and an assent statement for the young person. A multi site study can keep one form and change only the site contact table, sending one envelope per participant so each has their own certificate and the research team can track consent by participant code rather than by a shared document.
What makes this valid
In Australia the Electronic Transactions Act 1999 recognises an electronic signature that identifies the signer and shows intention, by a reliable method. The National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research sets out what participants must be told and how consent is recorded, and allows consent in forms other than paper where an ethics committee approves it.
What makes this signing flow work
One box per statement
Research ethics expects consent to be specific. Six separate boxes, each beside one numbered statement, show what the participant agreed to point by point rather than in a single signature at the bottom of a long document.
The optional statement is genuinely optional
Future use of data is marked Optional on the page and the box was set as not required, so a participant can join the study and still say no to it. The form and the envelope settings agree.
The researcher countersigns last
The researcher's signature confirms he explained the study to someone who has already consented. With the order on, the event log shows his invitation sent only after the participant's signature.
Questions people ask
Can research consent be given electronically?
Yes, where the approving ethics committee accepts it. The National Statement allows consent to be expressed in different ways. An electronic form with one box per statement and a certificate showing who signed and when gives the committee a clear record for each participant.
What happens if a participant leaves statement 6 empty?
They still join the study. Statement 6 was set as optional, so the portal lets them finish with that box empty, and the research team does not share their de-identified data for future studies. Statements 1 to 5 cannot be left empty.
Does the certificate show the participant read the information sheet?
Its event log lists each signing step with a UTC time, so the start of each signer's session appears before their signature, with IP addresses. It does not measure reading. Statement 1, marked by the participant, is where she confirms she read the sheet and had questions answered.
Can a participant withdraw after signing?
Yes, at any time, by telling the research nurse. The signed form cannot be edited, so withdrawal is recorded by the study, not on the PDF. Her data can be removed until 30 April 2027, when it is combined for analysis.
Who receives the signed consent form?
Once both have signed, the certified PDF is emailed to the participant, the researcher and the sender. Section 15 of the information sheet tells the participant to keep it. The certificate of completion can be downloaded separately from the envelope page.
What if the participant declines?
The envelope moves to declined and the sender is emailed with any reason typed. The researcher is never invited, nothing is collected, and the participant's decision does not affect her employment, as section 3 of the information sheet promises. She can still be invited again later if she changes her mind.
Build your own in about a minute
The button below opens the generator with this use case already described. Change the wording to match your own, generate, then edit anything you like.
Make one like thisOther signing examples
Sign a cosmetic procedure consent online
A cosmetic procedure consent has to prove the decision was not made in the consulting room: the referral, two consultations and a cooling off period come first, and the signature after. This three page consent for upper eyelid surgery prints the cooling off end date of 29 September 2026 on page 1, and the patient's stamped signature reads Oct 4, 2026.
Sign a vaccination consent form online
A vaccination consent form has to capture the screening answers before the injection and the batch number after it, on the same page, in that order. This one page workplace flu clinic consent is signed by the employee first, with one screening answer marked, and completed by the immunising nurse, who types the batch from the vaccine box and signs below.
Sign a physiotherapy consent form online
A physiotherapy consent form has to capture the patient's answers to the safety questions before any needle goes in, and show the physiotherapist read those answers before treating. In this two page consent for low back pain with dry needling, the patient marks one of five screening questions with an X and signs, and the physio countersigns twenty minutes later.
Want the steps in the builder? Read Add several signers to one envelope, then Send a PDF for e-signature. For everything this generator can do, see the signing flow maker.
Written and checked by the OneCraft team. Last checked .