Introduction
RECRUITMENT
Conducting studies remotely using digital technology such as web-based survey tools offers several benefits and was particularly useful during the COVID-19 pandemic, which precluded face-to-face contact for long periods. Remote participation has benefits for both participants and researchers. It is accessible [A major disadvantage is that conducting studies remotely tends to rely on participant honesty in self-report, and researchers cannot be sure that the participant is who they say they are; participants have been known to engage in deception to take part in research with financial incentives available [This study differentiates between 2 main types of participant deception that can occur in remotely conducted studies and cause significant issues for researchers: bots and manual participant deception. Automated “bots” (short for “robots”) [This is not a new issue, and previous remote studies have encountered bots and detailed management techniques, such as differentiating between automated strategies embedded into electronic surveys and manual plans during recruitment [This paper reports a case study of a remotely conducted randomized controlled trial of an alcohol reduction app, 