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Table 1 Examples of items personalized in our survey questionnaire showing extent of personalization required to generate n = 285 unique questionnaires

From: Mail merge can be used to create personalized questionnaires in complex surveys

Type of information

Generic wording

Personalized wording (based on target study publication)

Total number of unique fields

Study title, journal, and year of publication

Your study was randomly selected for this survey

Your study (A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating the Effect of a Handwashing-Promotion Program in Chinese Primary Schools,) published in [Am J Trop Med Hyg (2007)] was randomly selected for this survey

285

Research ethics approval

Did you seek ethics approval to conduct the study?

[Our review of your paper indicates that research ethics approval was (sought) (not sought) to conduct the study. Is this correct?]

2

Type of committee

How many ethics committees did you approach?

How many [institutional review boards (IRBs)] [Research Ethics Boards (REBs)] [Research Ethics Committees (RECs)…] did you approach?

13

Study permission

Did one or more gatekeepers provide agreement or consent to the clusters’ involvement in your study?

Did any (school principals or school district administrators) provide agreement or consent to the involvement of (schools) in your study?

93

Any other permission

Did you seek approval from anyone else to conduct the study?

Did you seek approval from anyone else, such as: (Ministry of Education, Department of Public Health, or school advisory board,) to conduct the study?

16

Unit of randomization

Was consent sought before randomization of clusters?

Was consent sought before randomization of (schools)?

138

Cluster level participants

Did cluster-level participants in the intervention arm provide consent?

Did (the teachers) in your intervention arm consent to receiving the study interventions?

98

Individual level participants

Did individual level participants provide consent?

Did (parents or guardians of students) consent to the collection of data in your study?

113