Who will hear my recordings?

A U.S.-based transcriptionist and a proofreader, both working under confidentiality agreements and trained in human subjects protection and HIPAA, plus the project manager assigned to your account. No one else. Recordings are never sent to third-party transcription services.

Where are recordings and transcripts handled?

On our encrypted platform, with files encrypted in transit and at rest. U.S. clients’ recordings and transcripts never leave U.S. infrastructure. You upload through the platform, never as email attachments.

Can you work with our confidentiality agreement?

Yes. We sign your institution’s NDA or confidentiality agreement, or provide ours. BAAs are in place with many universities, so a BAA usually follows a form your office already knows.

How do we arrange de-identification and retention requirements?

HIPAA Safe Harbor de-identification is included at no extra charge: tell your project manager which identifiers to replace and transcripts arrive with names, places and dates tagged before you code them. Send your protocol’s retention and deletion requirements before uploading, and agree the arrangements with your project manager in writing.

Does HIPAA apply to my study?

That depends on the entities and relationships involved, not on whether an interview discusses health. Confirm with your institution whether HIPAA applies and which agreements are required. Where it does, we sign a Business Associate Agreement; where it does not, a confidentiality agreement is usually what the IRB expects.

Prepare your studyfor secure human transcription

Check consent, confidentiality, data handling and the documents your institution needs before sharing recordings.

1.Consent. Does the consent form cover what happens to the recording?
2.Confidentiality and agreements. Which agreements does your institution require before files move?
3.Data handling. Where do the files go, who can reach them, and for how long?
4.Institutional review. What will your IRB, ethics committee or procurement office ask for?

Just your email. Download immediately. We'll also create your free Landmark account.

Trusted by funded research teams

No newsletter, no spam. Just the checklist and your account.

Need documents for your IRB? Request documentation

Prepare your study for secure human transcription

Check consent, confidentiality, data handling and the documents your institution needs before sharing recordings.

HIPAA Compliant TranscriptionBAAs in place with many universitiesNDA available

Just your email. Download immediately. We'll also create your free Landmark account.

Inside the checklist

1
Consent
Does the consent form cover what happens to the recording?
2
Confidentiality and agreements
Which agreements does your institution require before files move?
3
Data handling
Where do the files go, who can reach them, and for how long?
4
Institutional review
What will your IRB, ethics committee or procurement office ask for?

Two pages, tick boxes, the documents your institution will ask for.

The four checks before recordings leave the lab

Consent, confidentiality and agreements, data handling, institutional review. Each is a short list with tick boxes.

Consent

Does the consent form cover what happens to the recording? It says sessions are recorded and that a transcription service may transcribe them. It says who will hear the recording: the transcriptionist and proofreader, under confidentiality agreements.

Confidentiality and agreements

Which agreements does your institution require before files move? A confidentiality agreement or NDA with the vendor, on your paper or theirs. Confirm with your institution whether HIPAA applies to this study and which agreements are required; a Business Associate Agreement where it does.

Data handling

Where do the files go, who can reach them, and for how long? Encrypted transfer through an upload platform, never as email attachments. Encrypted storage, and a named list of who can access it.

Institutional review

What will your IRB, ethics committee or procurement office ask for? A security summary describing transfer, storage, access and staff training. The signed confidentiality agreement, and the BAA where applicable.

Just your email. Download immediately. We'll also create your free Landmark account.

Ready to get started? View our transcription services →

For your IRB, ethics committee or procurement office

Documents for your institution

Getting a vendor approved is often the slowest step. Ask, and a project manager emails what your office needs.

Security summary
Transfer, storage, access and staff training, written for an IRB or ethics committee.
Confidentiality agreement
Our NDA, or we sign your institution’s.
Business Associate Agreement
Where HIPAA applies; BAAs are in place with many universities.
Protocol language
How recordings are transferred, transcribed, de-identified and stored, ready to paste into your application.
Vendor registration and purchase orders
For procurement, with line-item invoices for grant budgets.

Tell us which documents and for which institution. A project manager replies by email.

Why Researchers Trust Us

Trusted by 5,000+ researchers at 700+ universities and hospitals

Grant-funded teams send us the interviews and focus groups they cannot afford to get wrong.

Grant-funded teams send us the interviews and focus groups they cannot afford to get wrong. Here is what stands behind that.

Transcribing since 1987

Supporting research teams since 2009

BAAs in place

with many universities; NDAs on request

U.S.-based staff

Recordings and transcripts never leave U.S. infrastructure

The checklist is one email away

Why Researchers Trust Us

Trusted by 5,000+ researchers at 700+ universities and hospitals

Grant-funded teams send us the interviews and focus groups they cannot afford to get wrong.

Grant-funded teams send us the interviews and focus groups they cannot afford to get wrong. Here is what stands behind that.

Transcribing since 1987

Supporting research teams since 2009

BAAs in place

with many universities; NDAs on request

U.S.-based staff

Recordings and transcripts never leave U.S. infrastructure

Named in 67 peer-reviewed papers since 2015 · see the list

Ready to work through the checklist?

Last step — just your email

Named in 67 peer-reviewed papers since 2015 · see the list

Ready to work through the checklist?

Last step — just your email

Two guides reviewers keep asking for

HIPAA-compliant transcription for research interviews: what to require (there is no HIPAA certification; here is what to verify instead)
How to get a transcription vendor approved by your IRB (protocol language, attachments, consent wording)

Frequently Asked Questions

The questions an IRB, a grants office or a PI asks before recordings are shared.

A security summary written for an IRB or ethics committee, a confidentiality agreement (ours or yours), a Business Associate Agreement where HIPAA applies, protocol language describing how recordings are transferred, transcribed, de-identified and stored, and vendor registration and purchase order details for procurement. Ask through Request documentation on this page and a project manager emails them.