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A Research Master ID (RMID) is a unique numeric identifier that links a research study across multiple MUSC electronic research systems. The purpose of the RMID is to allow for accurate identification of research studies, improve tracking and reporting of institutional research metrics, and increase data accuracy across the systems. The RMID will be required when submitting new studies in eIRB, electronic proposal datasheet (ePDS), OnCore, Epic and SPARCRequest©, with plans to expand to other research related electronic systems on campus in the future. The RMID requires basic data elements for each research study: principal investigator (PI), PI department, study long title and study short title.

These data elements will also be used to validate the associations across systems.

It is essential that each research study obtain only 1 RMID. Therefore, it is important that all search options are exhausted prior to creating a new RMID. Use the following steps to search the RMID system to ensure that the study has not already been registered by any members of your research team.

RMID Common Data Elements

As previously stated, the RMID requires basic data elements to register a research study in the RMID system. These common data elements, described below, will be used to validate the link across the electronic systems.

Step-by-Step Guide

STEP 1: Perform In-Depth Search for Existing RMID

There are a several different ways to search existing RMIDs. It is strongly recommended that multiple search methods are used before continuing to the next step.

A. Sort the list of RMIDs.

A comprehensive list of all existing RMIDs will be displayed in the table at the bottom of the page. Perform a visual search of existing RMIDs by looking through the table for your study. The table can be sorted by each of the columns by clicking on the desired column heading. All studies that have a RMID can be located in the table.

B. Search by Principal Investigator (PI) name.

If you have not found the study, begin a search by PI name. Simply start typing the name of the investigator in the “Search by PI Name” field and choose the correct name (email address) from the drop down list. Select search. Searching by PI name will return all studies associated with the designated PI.

 C. Search by study short title.

If you still cannot find the study, try searching again by the study’s short title using the “Search by Short Title” field. It is recommended that only a portion of the title or a keyword is entered so that the search will return all studies that include that keyword anywhere within their short title.

D. Search by study long title field.

If you still cannot find the study, try searching again using the “Search by Long Title” field. See below for 3 examples of how the results can vary based on how much and/or how precise the wording is when searching by the long title field.

It is recommended that only a portion of the title or keyword is entered so that the search will return all studies that include that term or keyword within in the long title. See example 3 and note the greater search return.

E. Search other fields.

If you have been unable to locate the study after searching those fields, consider searching by other available fields by checking the “Show More” box.

Search by Department: searching this field will return all studies that have been associated with the selected department. It is recommended that the search begin with the department of the potential PI or the department through which the study is funded.

Search by RMID: if you have a RMID, it can be entered in the RMID field. This will return the existing RMID and associated study information.

If a RMID is found, use the available fields to verify that this is the same study and then document the RMID# for future use as it is required in multiple other systems.

If no RMID is found continue to Step 2.

STEP 2: Create a new Research Master ID

When you are certain the study does not have an existing RMID number, click on the “Create a Research Master ID” button at the bottom of the page to create a new RMID.

1. Enter the name of the Principal Investigator of the research study. Begin typing the PI’s name and then select the correct name. If the PI is unknown, enter the name of the proposed PI.

2. For faculty PIs, the department field will be populated once the PI is selected.

3. Enter the Long Title of the study as it will appear in eIRB or other systems. The system will truncate the title to 255 characters.

4. Enter the Short Title of the study as it should appear in eIRB or other systems.

5. Select “Submit.”

You will see confirmation of a successful submission with the new RMID number. The system sends an email containing the RMID# to the PI and creator; forward this email to the rest of the study team.

STEP 3: Make Note of Newly Created RMID

Retain this number for use in other systems. You may always return to this website to look up the RMID number using the search function.

The RMID Record

When the RMID is initially created, only the information entered into the RMID website is available. However, once the RMID has been associated with the study record in other systems (eIRB, SPARCRequest©, ePDS), and the RMID system has been updated, then you will be able to select the RMID record to see which systems have a study associated to the selected RMID. The RMID system will be routinely refreshed. The update will pull only RMID numbers from applications and forms that have been submitted in the other systems. If your study application or form is in draft or pre-submission status in eIRB, then it will not appear in the RMID record. See the following descriptions of RMID interactions with other systems.

A. RMID & SPARC

1. The RMID field is available for all Studies in SPARCRequest; it is a REQUIRED field if “Human subjects” is selected in the section titled “Research Involving” when creating your editing your study information. See below:

2. The same RMID cannot be used for more than one study.

3. Once the RMID has been entered in SPARCRequest, the Long title and short title are pulled into SPARC in real time via SPARC/RMID API.

4. Every hour RMID system pulls SPARC protocols into RMID system and associates the SPARC Protocol with the corresponding RMID record according to RMID #.

B. SPARC & eIRB

1. When the RMID record has been validated by the eIRB record/fields, the long title and short title are automatically updated in SPARC and the Pro# is also pulled into SPARC.

2. The title fields in SPARC have a visual cue indicating the titles have been validated. See below.

C. RMID & eIRB

1. Every hour eIRB data is updated in RMID.

   1. Records in eIRB are filtered by Institution to include only MUSC records;

   2. Only the primary records are included (no amendments or “preserve” state records);

   3. If the eIRB record is in a verified state, then the Long Title and Short Title fields are pulled into/updated in RMID. (Special characters pulled from eIRB that are outside of range are removed from the title field to maintain compatibility with Epic)

**eIRB verified states include the following: Acknowledged, Approved, Completed, Disapproved, Exempt Approved, Exempt Complete, Expired, Expired – Continuation in Progress, External IRB Review Archive, Not Human Subjects Research, Overdue Study Status, Suspended, Terminated, and Withdrawn

2. There are visual cues within the RMID system indicating the RMID record has been validated with the eIRB record; the RMID Record is then no longer editable by the user or administrator.  There are also visual cues within the RMID system indicating when the study is closed out in eIRB (e.g., in a Completed state).

D. eIRB & RMID

1. A RMID is required for all research applications within eIRB. Before the study is IRB submitted, the RMID number should be entered on the RMID SmartForm.  See below.

2. After the study is IRB reviewed or withdrawn, the RMID number should be entered via the study activity ‘Edit Research Master ID (RMID).  See below.

3. The eIRB validates that only a number is entered (RMIDs are numeric only).

4. The eIRB validates that the number has not already been used on a study submitted in eIRB.  See below for sample error message when RMID is already in use:

5. Reports checking RMID numbers entered in eIRB are reviewed and verified by system administrators. Study teams are contacted to resolve questions/issues.

E. RMID & ePDS/COEUS

1. RMID is updated nightly with COEUS data.

     a.  Awards that are “inactive” are filtered out of the data set;

     b.  Sequential Award Number are kept. See below.

F. ePDS/COEUS & RMID

1. The RMID field is available for all electronic Proposal Data Sheets and is REQUIRED on all ePDS forms where “human subjects” is selected. See below.

Troubleshooting

• If you receive error messages when creating the RMID, confirm that all fields are completed. If this is not the issue contact the SUCCESS Center at (843) 792-8300 or rmid@musc.edu.

• If the wrong information is entered in a RMID record, and the record has not been associated with any other systems, the RMID record can be modified by the creator of the RMID record. The creator should select “edit” to the right of the RMID record and make the necessary changes.

• If the wrong information is entered in a RMID record, and the RMID has been linked to other systems, or you discover that there is more than 1 RMID# created for your study, send an email with a description of what needs to be corrected to rmid@musc.edu. 

Support

For questions or support contact the SCTR SUCCESS Center, MUSC’s CTSA, at (843) 792-8300 or rmid@musc.edu.

THIS PROJECT WAS DEVELOPED BY THE MUSC OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT FOR RESEARCH WITH SUPPORT FROM THE SOUTH CAROLINA CLINICAL & TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH (SCTR) INSTITUTE, MUSC CTSA WITH AN ACADEMIC HOME AT THE MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA, FUNDED THROUGH THE NIH – NCATS GRANT NUMBER UL1 TR001450.