Welcome to PRePP!

Research activities are a big part of the psychology curriculum. Volunteering to participate in research studies can complement your coursework, stimulate your interest in psychological topics, and promote your development of critical thinking skills for evaluating claims in scientific and popular media. 

At the same time, research participation supports the scholarly work of your professors and fellow students who conduct those studies.

It's a win-win arrangement! Here's how it works.

PSYC 101 and 203 Requirements

If you're enrolled in Introduction to Psychological Science (PSYC 101) or Research Methods in Psychology (PSYC 203), 5% of your grade will be awarded for completing two hours of research activities. There are two ways to fulfill this requirement:

• voluntarily participating in designated studies

• submitting alternative equitable assignments

As long as you do one or both of these activities for a combined total of two hours, you'll fulfill the requirement. For example, you could do two one-hour studies, or two one-hour assignments, or a one-hour study plus two half-hour assignments, etc. If you do more than two hours, you'll still earn the maximum course credit of 5%. If you do less, your course credit will be reduced accordingly.

Students must apply any research credits they earn during the semester in which they earn them. The one exception to this rule are situations in which a student must re-take PSYC 101 or 203 due to failing or withdrawing from the course in a previous semester. If the student earned research participation credits in the semester in which they failed or withdrew from one of these courses at Simmons, they may apply those credits to the semester in which they are re-taking that course at Simmons. If a student is in this situation, they should contact the PRePP coordinator to explain their situation and request to have these prior credits applied to the current semester. All such requests must be submitted by 5pm the last day of class in which they are taking the course and ideally as early in the semester as possible to allow sufficient time to process. This semester the deadline to contact the PRePP coordinator is Friday, December 12th at 5pm. But again, please reach out as soon as possible, so that you don't miss opportunities to complete credits if you need them. 

Other Courses

Research participation is required coursework in PSYC 101 and 203, but extra credit is sometimes available in other 200-level courses. Please check your syllabus or ask your instructor whether their course is designated for PRePP credit during the current semester.

If you're taking two or more courses that are eligible for PRePP credit in the same semester, you need to specify which one should get credited for each research activity. You can't apply credit for the same activity to multiple courses.

Deadline

The deadline for earning PRePP credit through study participation and/or alternative equitable assignments is 5 PM on the semester's final day of classes. For Fall 2025 the deadline falls on Friday, December 12th at 5pm.

PRePP Account

An online account is required to earn PRePP credit. If you already have one from another psychology course, please go to the PRePP website, log on by clicking the green "Simmons Log In" button and entering your standard Simmons username and password, and update your course list for the current semester. 

If you don't already have a PRePP account, please create a new one by following these instructions.

• Go to the PRePP website.

• Click the green "Simmons Log In" button.

• Enter your standard Simmons username and password that you use to access your Simmons email account.

• Select the course(s) that you're taking this semester from the list of eligible ones. If your course has more than one section, be sure to pick the right one.

• Then select "Request Account." You've set up your account! You'll now be able to use your standard Simmons username and password to log into the system and view and participate in the available studies. 

Further Information

For further information about signing up for studies and submitting equitable alternative assignments, please click the tabs at the top of this page.

If you have questions or concerns that aren't addressed here, please contact your course instructor or email the PRePP coordinator (megan.mccarty@simmons.edu).