This training module is for researchers who will be using the CPRD electronic Research Application Portal (eRAP) to request access to CPRD data.
By the end of this module, the reader will have learnt:
- What is eRAP?
- Who needs to apply for an eRAP account?
- How do I register for an eRAP account?
- How is my eRAP account approved?
- How can I join a CPRD study as a collaborator?
- How can I change the Chief Investigator or Corresponding Applicant named on a study?
- Submitting required amendments on eRAP
- Submitting post approval amendments on eRAP
- How can I update my eRAP profile information? (excluding organisation affiliation)
- How can I change my organisation on eRAP?
What is eRAP?
The CPRD electronic Research Application Portal (eRAP) www.erap.cprd.com is where researchers submit study proposals for approval to access CPRD data. More detail about this process is available at https://www.cprd.com/research-applications
For any questions or support required using CPRD eRAP that are not answered below, please contact the Research Data Governance (RDG) Secretariat at rdg@cprd.com.
Who needs to apply for an eRAP account?
Applicants who will be directly accessing or analysing individual patient-level data from CPRD, and are employed by an approved CPRD client organisation need to apply for an eRAP account, in order to be named as a collaborator on CPRD studies.
If your organisation is not yet approved as a CPRD client, a New Client Request for Access to CPRD Data form (available from www.cprd.com/data-access) must be completed for your organisation.
Alternatively, if you will not be accessing CPRD primary care or CPRD linked data directly, please confirm this by email to rdg@cprd.com.
How do I register for an eRAP account?
All collaborators (i.e. research team members) must have an approved eRAP account prior to submitting a study on eRAP. To register a new eRAP account, please visit www.erap.cprd.com.
You will need to provide the following information upon registration:
- Your full name (first and last name)
- Your institutional affiliation under which you will be requesting CPRD data (if you hold an honorary position at this institution, please contact rdg@cprd.com)
- Please note that if your institution appears in the drop-down list of options, this does not indicate the institution is an approved CPRD client.
- An institutional email address
- Your current position and all relevant experience that you hold.
How is my eRAP account approved?
Applicants will not be able to access their accounts immediately as CPRD must approve eRAP account registrations. Once an eRAP account registration is approved, you will receive an automated email from eRAP. Please check your junk mail if you don't see this in your main inbox.
Registering multiple eRAP accounts at the same time will delay the approval of your eRAP account. Please contact rdg@cprd.com if you have not received any communication about your account status within one week of registering a new eRAP account.
How can I join a CPRD study as a collaborator?
You will need to have an approved eRAP account before you can accept the study invite (See the sections on ‘Who needs to apply for an eRAP account’ and ‘How to register for an eRAP account’).
Only the Chief Investigator or Corresponding Applicant can invite collaborators to a study on eRAP.
The Chief Investigator or Corresponding Applicant must use the email address linked to your approved eRAP account to invite you to the study.
Once the invite has been sent, collaborators must accept the invite by logging into their eRAP accounts and clicking into the ‘my studies’ section in their dashboards.
How can I change the Chief Investigator or Corresponding Applicant named on a study?
Whilst changes to study collaborators can be made directly by the Chief Investigator or Corresponding Applicant on eRAP, any changes to the Chief Investigator or Corresponding Applicant themselves must be requested to the RDG Secretariat at rdg@cprd.com.
The new Chief Investigator and/or Corresponding Applicant must have an approved eRAP account before any requests are submitted to the RDG Secretariat (See the sections on ‘Who needs to apply for an eRAP account’ and ‘How to register for an eRAP account’).
The email request must either be sent by the current Chief Investigator and/or Corresponding Applicant, or the current Chief Investigator and/or Corresponding Applicant must be copied into the email, and must include the following information:
- Full name of the new Chief Investigator or Corresponding Applicant
- The email address linked to the new Chief Investigator and/or Corresponding Applicant’s approved eRAP account.
- Will the new Chief Investigator and/or Corresponding Applicant will be accessing the data for the study? Yes / no
- Will the current/old Chief Investigator and/or Corresponding Applicant will need to remain a collaborator on the study? Yes / no
If the Chief Investigator is changed, the new Chief Investigator must be from the same institution. The Chief Investigator is responsible for ensuring that the research is undertaken with full adherence to CPRD RDG guidelines, and CPRD Contracts and Terms and Conditions. The Chief Investigator’s institution is the study sponsor, the legal entity responsible for the data access agreement and must remain the same.
If a study is undergoing post-approval amendments, any changes to the Chief Investigator and/or Corresponding Applicant may be undone if the post-approval amendments are cancelled.
Submitting required amendments on eRAP
Changes cannot be made to already passed sections of the study on eRAP during the study resubmission process. Changes can be made to these sections via post-approval amendments, once the study is approved.
When updating sections of the study for resubmission on eRAP, applicants must ensure that they provide the entire updated text for review and not just the limited edits made to the section for review.
Submitting post approval amendments on eRAP
Post-approval amendments can only be submitted by the Chief Investigator or Corresponding Applicant of the study.
Applicants must ensure that all sections of the study that are affected by the new amendment(s) are duly updated to reflect the changes.
For archived studies, beyond the 4-year lifespan, only amendments to the research team can be made. These must be requested by the Chief Investigator or Corresponding Applicant by emailing rdg@cprd.com. Alternatively, the Chief Investigator or Corresponding Applicant should be copied into the email request.
The proposed new member(s) of the research team must have an approved eRAP account before the request can be processed. The following information needs to be included in the request email to the RDG Secretariat:
- The email address linked to the new member(s) approved eRAP account
- Whether the new member(s) will be accessing CPRD data or not
- What role the new member(s) will have in the study: collaborator, Corresponding Applicant and/or Chief Investigator.
Please be aware that these changes to the research team will only be reflected in our internal systems and will not be visible on eRAP. The changes will be included in the information on studies published on the CPRD website.
How can I update my eRAP profile information? (excluding organisation affiliation)
Please list the specific information that you would like to update and the sections that this relates to in your eRAP account profile and email this to rdg@cprd.com.
How can I change my organisation on eRAP?
You will need to register for a new eRAP account affiliated with your new organisation and using your new institutional email address. To register for a new eRAP account please visit: www.erap.cprd.com
You will also need to notify rdg@cprd.com that you have left your old organisation.
Please note that if any studies associated with your old eRAP account must be moved to your new eRAP account, the Chief Investigator or Corresponding Applicant of the approved study must submit a post-approval amendment and re-invite you to the study team using the email address linked to your new eRAP account.