In this interview, we talk to two professionals who have each worked in different research fields which have utilized citizen scientists as part of their profession and research.
Important notice
We would like to inform that this project is inactive since December 2022. As a result, the content presented on this website is static, which means it cannot be updated, and no new information will be added. Consequently, interactive features such as the search function, or subscription and commenting capabilities are unavailable.
Internal Content
Check out our latest tweet
Do volunteers in citizen science have different motivation profiles?
Volunteers in citizen science (CS) have different kinds of motivations for participation, ranging from e.g. topic interest, supporting science to personal recognition. Information regarding the existence and characteristics of motivation profile groups of volunteers remains unclear.
Sticking in your professional domain or trying something new?
Citizen science (CS) projects encompass a variety of different disciplines (e.g. health, biology, education). However, it is not clear whether volunteers’ working i.e. professional discipline is related to the discipline of their selected project.
Do citizen scientists use different technologies depending on their age in CS activities?
Citizen science engages adults of all age groups. According to participants, which are technologies they use to participate in CS activities? What are the differences between different age groups and the technologies they use?
Developing citizen science: 5 evidence-based recommendations for policymakers
Since November 2019 the international research project CS Track has been combining traditional social-science methods with web-based and computational analytics in order to systematically survey the field of Citizen Science.
8 recommendations for institutions looking to support citizen science initiatives
Since November 2019 the international research project CS Track has been combining traditional social-science methods with web-based and computational analytics in order to systematically survey the field of Citizen Science.
How to improve citizen science projects?
Since November 2019 the international research project CS Track has been combining traditional social-science methods with web-based and computational analytics in order to systematically survey the field of Citizen Science.
Mapping Sustainable Development Goals to Citizen Science projects
Main aim of the study This work presents opportunities, achievements, and future challenges in using computational analytics to better understand the connection between CS and the SDGs. The work in its status does not fully cover SDGs in CS, but it evaluates and shows...
An explorative study on the effects of the recent pandemic on online Citizen Science: lessons learnt for improving project management and implementation
The study aimed at assessing the pandemic’s impact on online CS participation and capturing CS project coordinators’ experience of the pandemic and their actions in managing the pandemic’s effects.
Report on a Survey among Organisers of Citizen Science Projects
Collect data on some project characteristics which cannot be answered by visiting project websites.
Is it a match? Motivations on citizen science volunteers and recruitment arguments in project descriptions
This study aims at understanding how the alignment between the motivational factors of CS participants and the recruitment speech used in the projects’ description is, by performing quantitative triangulation of data collected through a survey about 12 motivational factors for participating in a CS project, and the manual analysis of the projects’ descriptions available in Zooniverse website.
Educational uses of CS data
The study aim is to investigate how a combination of methods (such as data analysis, computational or quantitative methods) could be applied to gather CS projects information to support teacher’s practice and inspire them.
How to automate the extraction and analysis of information for educational purposes
In this case study we intended to reflect on how the online data about CS is shared and communicated in the websites, how could this data be extracted massively and stored in a central database to, later be analysed with different purposes. One of its, studied in this article, is the usage of all the information in educational contexts.
Citizen science project descriptions as science communication texts – the good, the bad, and the ugly
Project descriptions are a central element of a Citizen Science project’s online presence and thus play a key role in recruiting volunteers. Very often, they are the first point of contact between a project and prospective participants. As such, they need to be reader-friendly and accessible, spark interest, contain all the necessary practical information, and motivate readers to join by explaining convincingly how they will benefit from participating in the project. The purpose of this study was to examine whether the project descriptions stored in the CS Track database meet these criteria.
Research Areas in Citizen Science: One analysis of the CS Track database
One of the main objectives of CS Track project has been to realise an explorative study of CS projects in Europe, with the aim to categorize, cluster and build a database of CS projects that would allow an analysis of them. This has allowed: (1) to compile of a database of CS projects (and their corresponding CS activities) in the European Union and Associated Countries; (2) to document of a collection of these projects to explore their availability of data for further analysis following the knowledge gaps identified by the literature review.
CS Track publishes paper about developing a novel framework for investigating Citizen Science
A CS Track team of researchers including Reuma De-Groot, Yaela N Golumbic, Fernando Martínez Martínez and H. Ulrich Hoppe recently published a paper entitled “Developing a framework for investigating Citizen Science through a combination of web analytics and social science methods – the CS Track perspective”. This article presents the project’s framework that aims to complement existing methods for evaluating CS, address gaps in current observations of the citizen science landscape and integrate findings from multiple studies and methodologies.
Identifying learning dimensions in CS project descriptions
Educational impacts of participation, such as the development of scientific skills or increased awareness about biodiversity and conservation, are one of the most widely discussed aspects of CS. Whereas most existing studies investigate perceived or observed learning gains of citizen scientists, this study took an alternative perspective by examining learning-related aspects in textual self-representations of CS projects—namely in project descriptions posted online. The aim was to determine which dimensions of learning are reflected most prominently in CS project descriptions.
Citizen Science and Planetary Health – Impressions from the ECSA Conference 2022
3 keynotes, 35 sessions, 101 posters and more than 400 participants – in early October citizen science experts from all over the world gathered in Berlin to attend the biennial ECSA conference, Europe’s largest citizen science event.
How to write project descriptions that spark interest and attract volunteers – a 10-step guide
Over the past 18 months, several research groups within the CS Track consortium have analysed project descriptions stored in the CS Track database from different perspectives (focusing for instance on research area, correlation with the SDG framework, educational aspects etc.).
What are the most pressing concerns of those working with Citizen Science in a post-pandemic world – an interview with Gitte Kragh
Gitte Kragh is a postdoc at Aarhus University, ecologist at NORDECO, co-founder of the Danish Citizen Science Network, and a Board member of the European Citizen Science Association (ECSA).
How does the Citizen Science community use hashtags when discussing e-Health?
We analysed 17,122 Citizen Science tweets filtered with Health keywords in order to answer the following questions: What are the most used hashtags in the e-Health discussion? Are hashtags normally used alone or alongside others on the same theme?
How are tweets distributed for each Sustainable Development Goal within the Citizen Science Twitter community?
In this article, we analysed linkages between tweets and SDGs in our dataset by means of classification algorithms. In addition, the network of retweets for each SDG is provided.
SDG discussion in the Citizen Science community of Twitter
Through this Twitter analysis it was possible to demonstrate that some SDGs are much more discussed than others among the Citizen Science community of Twitter.
The importance of the few – how a minority of power users shape most of the discourse in CS forums
Analysing the discourse in discussion forums of CS projects can help to understand underlying patterns of collaborative knowledge creation and to identify highly engaged users. We ask the question: What can the quantitative analysis of forum data tell us about these patterns?
A short introduction to the CS Track Analytics Workbench
How can we make the CS Track database of Citizen Science projects interactively accessible for the purposes of interest-driven retrieval, navigation and comparative analysis as well as for checking and correcting existing information items and adding new ones? To achieve this, we have developed the Analytics Workbench.
Expert interviews highlight citizen science benefits, pitfalls and caveats
The CS Track research team, led by partners Christine Urban and Michael Strähle from the Wissenschaftsladen Wien – Science Shop Vienna, has published a report called Conceptual Framework for Analytics Tools.
Communities in Citizen Science. Notes from the Engaging Citizen Science Conference 2022
On April 25-26, Aarhus University hosted the first major international f2f conference on Citizen Science since the beginning of the Covid 19 pandemic.
New models to help us understand patterns of participation in citizen science activities
The CS Track team has released a new report entitled Models to identify background factors associated with the CS activity. It introduces how the CS Track team created 6 models with the aim of developing a deeper understanding of how different factors (e.g. gender, age, roles in CS) are associated with different forms of participation in CS activities.
IMDEA’s views on Involving Citizens in the Circular Economy
Javier Dufour is the head of the Systems Unit and Lorena Martinez is responsible for communication and image at IMDEA Energy in Spain. The research at this Madrid-based research centre focuses on determining the sustainability of any energy system.
Data donation and Citizen Science – an interview with Elissa Redmiles, Max Planck Institute for Software Systems
Dr. Elissa M. Redmiles is a faculty member and research group leader of the Safety & Society group at the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems. She has additionally served as a consultant and researcher at multiple institutions, including Microsoft Research, Facebook, the World Bank, the Center for Democracy and Technology, and the University of Zurich.
More information on replicable models – just one of the priorities for CS Track stakeholders
In order to better tailor our work to the needs of our different stakeholders, the CS Track team led a series of focus group discussions in September. These focus groups directly involved over 30 people coming from different stakeholder communities including policy-makers and officers, platform and support agency representatives, people interested in CS from an educational perspective and CS project leaders, participants and researchers.
IMDEA Energy. Communicating science to drive citizen engagement in the transition to a Circular Economy model
IMDEA Energy is a research center created by the Community of Madrid in Spain, whose objectives are to promote and carry out R&D activities related to energy, especially for the promotion of renewable energies and clean energy technologies that allow progress towards a sustainable energy system.
12 recommendations for addressing future challenges through citizen science
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed an opportunity to improve the outcomes of citizen science in response to emerging challenges.
Questioning the term “citizen science project”
Citizen science has, at least in Europe, turned into an umbrella term for a lot of very different practices.
The use of (not) defining Citizen Science
The term ‘Citizen Science’ has had a remarkable career in terms of scientific publications and funding schemes. Citizen science policies are either already developed or under development in many parts of the world.
How do different participants contribute to the knowledge-building discourse in online citizen science projects?
It is expected that the discussion boards in online CS projects provide a space for knowledge-building.
Investigating the potential of citizen science to respond to COVID-19 challenges
How has the citizen science community responded to the COVID-19 pandemic? A content analysis-based study examining projects’ characteristics and activities.
CS Track introduces new framework to categorise and characterise Citizen Science activities
The CS Track research team led by Christine Urban and Michael Strähle (Wissenschaftsladen Wien - Science Shop Vienna) has recently published a new report on Citizen Science which includes an extensive literature review and consideration of Citizen Science from...
How social network analysis reveals significant variables in Citizen Science projects: the Chimp & See case
Chimp & See is one of the projects of the Zooniverse platform, which is one of the largest citizen science web portals, was initiated in 2015 by the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. The aim of the project is to learn more about the culture, population size and demography of chimpanzees in specific regions of Africa.
How do citizen science activities develop and work? Computational analysis techniques can help us find out
A cornerstone of the CS Track project’s approach to investigating how citizen science (CS) activities develop and work is the use of computational analysis techniques applied to digital sources and traces to characterise and analyse these activities in terms of interactions within certain projects, the interplay with “official” science and their interaction with society.
Knowledge building and roles in Citizen Science – findings from the CS Track survey 2021
Citizen science entails the participation of the public and professional scientists in scientific activities in order to expand scientific knowledge and understanding. This involves participants adopting different roles for completing specific tasks which can shape overall learning experiences.
Typical characteristics of citizen science (CS) participants
Citizen science (CS) activities have increasingly become diverse of both subject matter and objectives, creating diverse opportunities for people representing a variety of socio-economic backgrounds as well as experiences to come together and participate in science activities.
Who takes part in Citizen Science projects & why?
Identifying who takes part in citizen science projects and understanding what motivates them are key aspects in building our understanding of citizen science. These aspects are at the heart of a recent White Paper published by the CS Track project which highlights interest in the theme, contributing to scientific research and opportunities to learn as key factors when it comes to motivation.
Characteristics and nature of Citizen Science in Europe today
Citizen Science is changing and evolving as highlighted in the recent CS Track White Paper on Themes, Objectives and Participants. This white paper draws on the initial results of a large scale CS Track survey carried out in early 2021 which highlights an increasing use of technology, diversification in terms of themes and a re-assessment of the value that citizen science can bring to the individual as well as society as a whole.
What technical devices/platforms are used most by Citizen Scientists in their projects?
Nowadays, there are numerous forms of technology ranging from audio recorders to smartphones as well as technological platforms, e.g., social media, that equip citizen scientists with the necessary tools to carry out their activities or projects of interest.
Citizen Science and Open Learning: A Twitter perspective
Social networks, such as Twitter, are increasingly being investigated to capture online interactive participation. Although citizen science projects have been remarkably successful in advancing scientific knowledge, it is not known whether the educational aspect is considered in citizen science projects.
Characterising engagement in citizen science
Engaging a wide range of participants over time, is key to the successful operation of citizen science projects. But how can projects accomplish this? The short and perhaps simplistic answer is “know your audience” – The whole range of potential audiences your project may have.
Economic considerations in Citizen Science
Examining the role of economic considerations in Citizen Science projects may yield some surprising conclusions, for example that those considerations may not be deemed by those involved in a project as important as could be expected. Greater attention seems to be paid to non-economic factors (e.g., educational gains).
CS Track database: first statistical results
The first version of the CS Track database contains a comprehensive collection of CS projects in the European Union and H2020 Associated Countries for data extraction and further analysis. This data was collected to both analyse and better understand citizen science.
Are citizen science projects multi-disciplinary research activities?
We follow a computational approach to assign research areas and categories to textual project descriptions on the web platform Zooniverse. Using this, we quantify the degree of multi-disciplinarity for 218 citizen science projects.
Reconsidering Citizen Science, a CS Track point of view
Citizen Science is an emerging field of study that expands from the social sciences, through policies and the learning sciences. Partners in our consortium have different views about this interdisciplinary field. Several aspects of these views are summarised here.
What are the predominant research areas in citizen science projects?
Are most of the citizen science projects only about environmental research? We answer this question by analysing descriptions of 218 Zooniverse projects using text analytics and identifying the predominant research area.
Evolution of academic publications in citizen science
Citizen Science incorporates the general public into scientific research and therefore we might expect it not to have a presence in academic publications. This report analyzes the evolution of scientific publications in Citizen Science.