Participant Interview Consent Form
A free participant interview consent form emphasizing voluntary participation, participant rights, confidentiality, and withdrawal. Suitable for any interview type — research, UX, media, or academic. Download PDF or Word instantly.
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YOUR PARTICIPATION IS VOLUNTARY. You are being invited to participate in a research interview about the study topic. You may withdraw at any time without penalty.
RECORDING: This interview will be audio and/or video recorded.
CONFIDENTIALITY: All responses will be fully anonymized.
Rights Every Interview Participant Must Be Informed Of
The Belmont Report established three core ethical principles for research involving human subjects — respect for persons, beneficence, and justice. Your participant interview consent form must reflect all three. Every participant you interview has the following legally and ethically protected rights.
Right to Voluntary Participation
Participation must be entirely free from coercion or undue influence. This must be the first and most prominent statement in any interview consent form.
Right to Withdraw at Any Time
A participant may stop the interview or withdraw their data at any point — even after signing. Many forms specify a withdrawal window (e.g. 2 weeks) during which data can still be removed.
Right to Decline Any Question
Participants may refuse to answer any individual question without explanation. This differs from full withdrawal — they can continue the interview while skipping specific questions.
Right to Informed Consent
Participants must receive full information about the study before deciding. This is the core requirement of the informed interview consent form standard required by IRBs.
Right to Confidentiality
Participants have the right to know exactly how their data will be stored, who will access it, whether it will be anonymized, and how long it will be retained.
Right to Contact an Independent Ethics Body
The consent form must provide contact details for an independent person (IRB, ethics board, or supervisor) the participant can contact if they have concerns about their treatment as a research participant.
What to Include in a Participant Interview Consent Form
A strong participant interview consent form covers both the practical details of the interview and the participant's full legal and ethical rights. The form should be easy to read and written at an accessible level — not in dense academic language.
The APA Ethics Code (Section 8.02) sets the minimum requirements for informed consent in research interviews. The Common Rule (45 CFR Part 46) applies to federally funded research. Both require that consent be documented in writing with a signed form — not just verbal agreement.
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Voluntary participation statement (first, prominent)Must be the first thing the participant reads. State clearly that participation is entirely voluntary and that refusal will have no negative consequences.
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Study title, researcher, and institutionFull name of the researcher, their role, and institutional affiliation. Include the IRB protocol number if applicable.
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Why this participant was selectedA brief explanation of why this individual is being invited to participate — their relevant experience, demographic, or expertise.
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Description of the interview and estimated timeWhat topics will be covered, how many questions, the format (in-person, online, telephone), and estimated duration.
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Recording consent with ability to declineState whether the interview will be audio recorded, video recorded, or transcribed, and give the participant the explicit option to decline recording.
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Complete confidentiality and data use statementHow data will be stored, who has access, anonymization method, retention period, and whether data may be shared or published. Required under GDPR, Common Rule, and APA Ethics Code.
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Explicit list of all participant rightsRight to withdraw, right to decline questions, right to request data deletion, right to review transcript (if applicable), right to contact ethics body.
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Independent ethics contact informationName and contact details of someone other than the researcher (IRB chair, ethics board, university ombudsman) that the participant can contact with concerns.
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Signature lines for participant and researcherPrinted name, signature, and date for both parties. For written consent forms, both signatures are required. This creates the documented record required under IRB standards.
How to Write a Participant Interview Consent Form
Follow these six steps to write a participant interview consent form that is legally sound, ethically complete, and easy for participants to understand.
For a complete guide covering all consent form types, see our how to write an interview consent form guide. For research-specific requirements, see the research interview consent form page.
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Open with a prominent voluntary participation statement
The first paragraph must clearly state that participation is voluntary and that refusal or withdrawal carries no negative consequences. This is required by the Belmont Report and all major ethics codes. Do not bury this information at the bottom of the form.
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State the study purpose and why this participant was chosen
Explain in plain language what the research is about and why this specific person is being invited. Participants should understand their relevance to the study. This supports the informed consent requirement in APA Ethics Code Section 8.02.
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Describe what participation involves in full detail
State the interview length, format (in-person or online), topics to be covered, and whether the session will be recorded. Participants must know exactly what they are agreeing to before signing.
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Explain all confidentiality protections and data use
Specify how data is stored (encrypted drive, university server), who can access it, whether responses will be anonymized or attributed, and the retention period. For EU/UK participants, include GDPR rights language. See the informed interview consent form for the full required language.
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List all participant rights explicitly as a numbered or bulleted list
State each right separately: right to withdraw, right to decline questions, right to request data deletion, right to review the transcript, right to contact an ethics body. Using a list — not buried prose — ensures participants clearly see and understand each right.
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Add researcher and independent ethics contact, plus dual signature block
Include both the researcher's contact and an independent ethics contact (IRB chair, university ombudsman). Add printed name, signature, and date lines for both participant and researcher. This creates the documented record required under IRB and 45 CFR Part 46 standards.
Participant Interview Consent Form — Sample Text
A complete written consent form sample for research and academic interviews. Copy and adapt, or download the pre-formatted PDF and Word versions below.
PARTICIPANT INTERVIEW CONSENT FORM Study / Project: [Study Title] Researcher: [Name], [Role], [Institution] Contact: [email] | [phone] IRB Protocol No.: [If applicable] Date: [Date] ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ YOUR PARTICIPATION IS VOLUNTARY You are being invited to take part in an interview for a [research study / academic project / professional investigation] about [topic]. Before deciding whether to participate, please read this form carefully and feel free to ask any questions. WHY YOU WERE SELECTED You have been invited to participate because [reason — e.g., you have direct experience with [topic] / you meet the study's eligibility criteria]. WHAT PARTICIPATION INVOLVES If you agree to participate, you will be asked to take part in an interview lasting approximately [duration]. You will be asked questions about [topic]. [The interview WILL / WILL NOT be recorded. Recordings will be used only for transcription purposes and will be deleted once the transcript is verified.] YOUR RIGHTS AS A PARTICIPANT You have the following rights, which you may exercise at any time: 1. You do not have to participate — participation is entirely voluntary 2. You may stop the interview at any time without giving a reason 3. You may decline to answer any specific question 4. You may request withdrawal of your data within [timeframe, e.g. 2 weeks] after the interview without penalty 5. You may ask for a copy of the interview transcript or a summary of findings 6. You may contact the independent ethics contact below with any concerns CONFIDENTIALITY AND DATA USE Your personal information will be kept strictly confidential. [Describe: how data will be stored, who has access, anonymization approach, retention period, whether data may be published or shared.] [For GDPR compliance — EU/UK participants:] You have the right to access your data, request correction or deletion, and withdraw consent at any time by contacting [contact]. Data is processed under [legal basis — e.g. legitimate interest / explicit consent]. CONTACT INFORMATION Researcher: [Name] — [email] — [phone] Independent Ethics Contact: [IRB Chair / Ethics Board] — [email] ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ CONSENT STATEMENT I have read and understood the information above. I voluntarily agree to participate in this interview under the conditions described. Participant Name (print): _________________________ Date: ____________ Participant Signature: _________________________ Researcher Name (print): _________________________ Date: ____________ Researcher Signature: _________________________
Written Consent Form for Interview vs Verbal Consent
A written consent form is always the preferred and most defensible method for documenting participant consent. It creates a legal record, protects both parties, and is required by IRBs, the Common Rule (45 CFR Part 46), and the APA Ethics Code for formal research.
Verbal consent — typically a recorded statement at the start of the interview — is only acceptable when:
- • The research involves minimal risk and written forms are impractical
- • The IRB has specifically waived the written consent requirement
- • The written form itself would be the only identifier linking the participant to the study (and the form would therefore increase risk)
Personal Interview Consent Form
A personal interview consent form is a consent form used when interviewing a specific, named individual — such as an expert, community leader, or subject-matter specialist — rather than anonymous research participants. This type of form is commonly used in:
- • Journalism and press interviews where the source is identified
- • Podcast and media interviews with named guests
- • Expert interview research (key informant interviews)
- • Documentary and media production
- • Oral history and student research projects
A personal interview consent form typically includes a publication or media release component in addition to standard consent language, granting the interviewer the right to quote, publish, or broadcast the individual's words. For a version focused on media rights, see the media interview consent form.
For the simplest possible version covering all essentials in one page, see the simple interview consent form.
Related Interview Consent Forms for Participants
These forms are most commonly used alongside or instead of a participant interview consent form, depending on your research context.