What Is Citizen Science? – A Scientometric Meta-Analysis

Abstract

ContextThe concept of citizen science (CS) is currently referred to by many actors inside and outside science and research. Several descriptions of this purportedly new approach of science are often heard in connection with large datasets and the possibilities of mobilizing crowds outside science to assists with observations and classifications. However, other accounts refer to CS as a way of democratizing science, aiding concerned communities in creating data to influence policy and as a way of promoting political decision processes involving environment and health.ObjectiveIn this study we analyse two datasets (N = 1935, N = 633) retrieved from the Web of Science (WoS) with the aim of giving a scientometric description of what the concept of CS entails. We account for its development over time, and what strands of research that has adopted CS and give an assessment of what scientific output has been achieved in CS-related projects. To attain this, scientometric methods have been combined with qualitative approaches to render more precise search terms.ResultsResults indicate that there are three main focal points of CS. The largest is composed of research on biology, conservation and ecology, and utilizes CS mainly as a methodology of collecting and classifying data. A second strand of research has emerged through geographic information research, where citizens participate in the collection of geographic data. Thirdly, there is a line of research relating to the social sciences and epidemiology, which studies and facilitates public participation in relation to environmental issues and health. In terms of scientific output, the largest body of articles are to be found in biology and conservation research. In absolute numbers, the amount of publications generated by CS is low (N = 1935), but over the past decade a new and very productive line of CS based on digital platforms has emerged for the collection and classification of data.

Citizen Science Terminology Matters: Exploring Key Terms

“…For example, using terminology that unintentionally privileges the project leader may run counter to the democratizing intentions of a citizen science project, could influence how participants feel about the activity, and could affect the knowledge that is produced. Many other STS-based questions were raised during our discussions: (Kullenberg and Kasperowski 2016), and a semantic analysis of citizen science and related terms such as citizen sensing, crowdsourcing, and volunteered geographic information (Comber et al 2014). Building on this work, a systematic bibliometric study carefully examining how terms have been used over time and in different languages could be illuminating, as could surveys of citizen science participants that explicitly ask them what terms they prefer.…”

Sharing biodiversity data: citizen scientists’ concerns and motivations

“…More and more research projects involve volunteers who collect biodiversity data, interpret astronomic images, fold proteins, or even help solve mathematical problems (Conrad and Hilchey 2011;Dickinson et al 2010;Franzoni and Sauermann 2014;Kullenberg and Kasperowski 2016). Scientists are discovering the enormous potential of non-professional citizen scientists, mobilizing their volunteer commitment to undertake research projects that would otherwise be unachievable or unaffordable.…”

An exploration of citizen science for population health research in retail food environments

“…9 Citizen science has since been used to obtain large sets of data that would otherwise not be possible due to time and financial resource constraints for projects in areas such as conservation biology. 10 In public health and related health and social science disciplines, literature on citizen science is lacking. Researchers hypothesize that citizen science approaches are often embraced but underreported 10 or described using other terminology.…”

“…10 In public health and related health and social science disciplines, literature on citizen science is lacking. Researchers hypothesize that citizen science approaches are often embraced but underreported 10 or described using other terminology. Wooley and colleagues reflect on the level of citizens' participation, engagement and involvement, and consider "classic citizen science" to represent both participation and engagement, while "extreme citizen science" reflects participation, engagement and involvement.…”