Discover the Biodiversa Citizen Science Toolkit aimed at researchers and scientists working in the fields of biodiversity or environmental sciences who are involved or have an interest in involving citizens in their research projects.
With this toolkit you will:
- Get a better overview and understanding of what Citizen Science is;
- Figure out all the benefits of adopting Citizen Science approaches;
- Have access to a list of the most relevant publications and most useful tools for Citizen Science;
- Discover many examples of Citizen Science projects and testimonies from researchers;
- Find out how to overcome the most common perceived challenges.
The Toolkit was developed by a working group including scientists and citizen science experts, following the Citizen Science workshop organised in Brussels in April 2019
I. Information hubs & Network Organisations
Websites that contain a wide array of information (publications, tools, resources, news, events,…) on Citizen Science and that allows for connecting and networking with the right people.
- The Austrian Center for Citizen Science serves as a service and information centre to, among others, supports scientists and practitioners in the development and implementation of Citizen Science projects.
- The EU-funded Doing It Together Science (DITOs) project (ended in 2019) organised many innovative events across Europe focusing on the active involvement of citizens in Citizen Science.
- The US Citizen Science Association aims to bring together the expertise of practitioners working in this field, in order to share the breadth of resources and best practices across different Citizen Science project types.
- EarthWatch supports research projects that actively involve Citizen Science participants by providing supplemental funding for the scientific field research based expenses. It organises paid expeditions for citizens who which to work alongside scientists to combat some of the planet’s most pressing environmental issues.
- The UK Environmental Observation Framework (UK-EOF) has a Citizen Science Working Group as well as a list of Citizen Science resources.
- EU-Citizen.Science is an online platform for sharing knowledge, tools, training and resources for Citizen Science. On the platform, you will find resources, projects, a training section, an events’ calendar, and community forums.
- The European Citizen Science Association (ECSA) is a non-profit association set up to encourage the growth of the Citizen Science movement in Europe, by initiating Citizen Science projects and performing research on Citizen Science.
- The GEWISS – Bürger schaffen Wissen online platform gathers information on Citizen Science (in German).
- The MICS project’s objective is to develop an integrated platform of metrics and instruments to measure the costs and benefits of citizen science by considering its impacts on society, governance, the economy, the environment, and science.
- The UK National Biodiversity Network provides a list of tools, resources and publications for Citizen Science.
- Science Ensemble is a web portal from the Sorbonne University and the French MNHN. Its objective is to communicate on CS research projects and to encourage the general public to contribute to it.
- The French Sciences Citoyennes association works on democratic and civil appropriation of science in order to put it at the service of the common good
II.1 Tools for setting up and managing citizen science projects
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BioCollect is a free tool developed by the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) to support the needs of researchers and citizen scientists by providing form-based structured data collection for surveys and projects.
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The Citizen Science Alliance is a collaboration of scientists, software developers and educators who develop and manage internet-based citizen science projects in order to further science and to involve the public in academic research.
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CitSci.org supports research projects by providing tools and resources allowing to customize the entire research process from creating new projects, and analyzing collected data, to gathering participants’ feedback.
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CyberTracker is a tool to create smartphone apps for field data collection and data visualisation, free of charge. It is being used worldwide by indigenous communities, in protected areas, scientific research, citizen science, etc.
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Free online course: “Introduction to Citizen Science & Scientific Crowdsourcing” conducted by researchers from the Extreme Citizen Science Group (ExCiteS) at University College London.
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The Mobile Collective enables and supports the collaborative development of innovative technology-based solutions by bringing the mobile developer & designer communities together with professional scientists and educators in ThinkCamp events. It is a payable service.
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Natural Apptitude specialise in making bespoke, user-focused data collection apps & websites for environmental and socially focused projects. It is a payable service.
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NBN Record Cleaner is a free software tool to help people improve the quality of their wildlife records and databases. (only works on Microsoft). Download + user’s guide.
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Pybossa is a freely accessible crowdsourcing framework for the development of platforms and data collection of online projects in which volunteers can take part.
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SciStarter is an online tool to promote and manage citizen science projects and find and engage participants (all fields).
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Scratchpads are websites for uploading taxonomic information and species distribution maps, and setting up blogs and forums. They are perfect for making online atlases for recording schemes or citizen science projects, building a bibliographic database, or creating a reference collection of images and observations.
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SENSR is a web-based visual environment where people who want to collect and explore small set of data can build an iPhone application as a data collection tool. Free of charge.
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SPOTTERON provides fully customizable apps for documenting localised and specific sightings in the context of citizen science, environmental protection and volunteer monitoring projects.It is a payable service.
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Wildlife Sightings is a platform for the creation of Citizen Science projects (involving novices & experts) in the field of wild animal watching.
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Zooniverse is a citizen science web platform owned and operated by the Citizen Science Alliance. Professional researchers can build their citizen science projects online and request the help of hundreds of thousands of volunteers across the world to analyze and interpret large datasets (e.g study/identify faraway galaxies, historical records and diaries, or videos of animals in their natural habitats,…)
For more tools, see the Austrian Centre for Citizen Science’s list of helpful tools.
II.2 Data platforms & repositories
- Artportalen (the Swedish Species Observation System) is a website for reporting and retrieving information on observations of Sweden’s plants, animals and fungi. Datasets are published on GBIF.
- The DoeDat–platform, managed by the Meise Botanical Garden, gives the opportunity to volunteers to help deciphering and unlocking information about their collections.
- eBird: managed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, this biodiversity-related citizen science project/database receives more than 100 million bird sightings each year. eBird data document bird distribution, abundance, habitat use, and trends through checklist data collected within a simple, scientific framework. Datasets are uploaded on GBIF.
- GBIF – the Global Biodiversity Information Facility – is an international network and research infrastructure aimed at making scientific data on biodiversity available to anyone, and accessible and searchable through a single portal. The datasets are provided by many institutions from around the world, including from Citizen Science projects (e.g. iNaturalist, eBird, Artportalen,…).
- iNaturalist: probably the most popular mobile app and website interface (750,000 users) to record and share observations of fauna, flora, and fungi all over the world. Research-grade observations, which are validated by the community, are being uploaded on a regular basis to GBIF. iNaturalist is a joint initiative by the California Academy of Sciences and the National Geographic Society.
- iRecord is a UK website for managing and sharing wildlife observations. It was created to make it easier for wildlife sightings to be collated, checked by experts and made available to support research and decision-making at local and national levels.
- iSpot is a Citizen Science platform run by The Open University to help anyone learn about and engage with nature. It has grown into a database of over 1.5 million photos with hundreds of thousands observations of species from a wide range of taxonomic groups.
- Project Noah is a global Citizen Science platform to discover, share, and identify wildlife (+827,000 wildlife sightings as of July 2019).
- Reef Life Survey is a non-profit Citizen Science program in which trained SCUBA divers undertake standardised underwater visual surveys of reef biodiversity on rocky and coral reefs around the world.
- The Registry of Research Data Repositories is a global registry of research data repositories that covers research data repositories from different academic disciplines.
II.3 Inventories and database of projects
Searchable inventories and databases to find and discover Citizen Science projects or programmes.
- Australian Citizen Science Project Finder, developed in partnership with the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA), which includes mostly Citizen Science projects in Australia.
- CitSci-X – Citizen Science Project Explorer: inventory of citizen science projects (~ 500 projects) relevant for environmental policy, developed by the European Commission. It is planned to be updated regularly.
- The EuMon database of biodiversity monitoring programmes (approx. 649 schemes) involving volunteers.
- The Federal Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science Catalog (~ 440 projects) is a US government-wide listing of citizen science and crowdsourcing projects by agency.
- A Global Citizen Science Database was built for the purpose of a research study in 2017 (Chandler et al, 2017: SPM table A2). It claimed to be (at the time) the largest and most comprehensive database of its kind (~ 420 programmes representing ~ 3600 projects)
- SciStarter’s searchable list of 1,500+ citizen science projects.
- A Web-based Biodiversity Citizen Science Database (~ 390 projects) was developed by Theobald et al, 2014: SPM1.
III.1 Publications - Guidance documents
Documents, publications, or websites providing guidelines or toolkits for setting up a citizen science project or activity.
- ECSA (2015a). Ten Principles of Citizen Science.
- ENVRIplus (2016). D14.6 Review of existing citizen science tools.
- Federal Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science Toolkit contains materials related to Citizen Science, (e.g. for scientific publications or case studies), as well as a guide for the creation of projects.
- Hecker S. et al. (2018). Citizen Science Innovation in Open Science, Society and Policy. UCL Press, London. doi:10.14324/111.9781787352339.
- Hepburn L. et al. (2015). The Australian Guide to Running a BioBlitz. Atlas of Life, Atlas of Living Australia, Great Barrier Reef Foundation, Office of Environment and Heritage, Queensland Museum, Australian Government, Inspiring Australia. doi: 10.13140/RG.2.1.2294.1289.
- iNaturalist Bioblitz Guide
- Houllier F. & Merilhou-Goudard J.-B. (2016). Citizen Science in France. INRA report, Paris, France.
- James T. (2007). Running a biological recording scheme or survey. Nottingham: NBN Trust.
- James T. (2011). Improving wildlife data quality. Nottingham: NBN Trust.
- Pettibone et al. (2016). Citizen science for all – a guide for citizen science practitioners. Bürger Schaffen Wissen (GEWISS) publication.
- Phillips T. B. et al. (2014). User’s Guide for Evaluating Learning Outcomes from Citizen Science. Ithaca, NY: Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
- Pocock M.J.O. et al. (2014a). Choosing and Using Citizen Science: a guide to when and how to use citizen science to monitor biodiversity and the environment. Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.
- Pocock M.J.O. et al. (2014b). A Strategic Framework to Support the Implementation of Citizen Science for Environmental Monitoring. Final Report to SEPA. Centre for Ecology & Hydrology. 2014, 65pp.
- Robinson L.D. et al. (2013). Guide to running a BioBlitz 2.0. Natural History Museum, Bristol Natural History Consortium, Stockholm Environment Institute York and Marine Biological Association.
- Tweddle J.C. et al. (2012). Guide to citizen science: developing, implementing and evaluating citizen science to study biodiversity and the environment in the UK. Wallingford, NERC/Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, 29pp.
- United States Environmental Protection Agency (2019). Quality Assurance Handbook and Guidance Documents for Citizen Science Projects. March 2019.
- Wiggins A. et al. (2013). Data Management Guide for Public Participation in Scientific Research. DataONE: Albuquerque, NM.
III.2 Publications - Scientific papers: theory and methodology
Scientific publications (research articles, reviews, conference papers,…) on all citizen science aspects, specifically in the fields of biodiversity research and environmental sciences.
- Aceves-Bueno, E., Adeleye, A. S., Feraud, M., Huang, Y., Tao, M., Yang, Y., & Anderson, S. E. (2017). The Accuracy of Citizen Science Data: A Quantitative Review. The Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, 98(4), 278–290. https://doi.org/10.1002/bes2.1336
- Amano, T., Lamming, J. D. L., & Sutherland, W. J. (2016). Spatial Gaps in Global Biodiversity Information and the Role of Citizen Science. BioScience, 66(5), 393–400. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biw022
- Boakes, E. H., Gliozzo, G., Seymour, V., Harvey, M., Smith, C., Roy, D. B., & Haklay, M. (2016). Patterns of contribution to citizen science biodiversity projects increase understanding of volunteers’ recording behaviour. Scientific Reports, 6(1), 33051. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep33051
- Bonney, R., Ballard, H., Jordan, R., McCallie, E., Phillips, T., Shirk, J., & Wilderman, C. C. (2009). Public Participation in Scientific Research: Defining the Field and Assessing Its Potential for Informal Science Education. Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE).
- Bonney, R., Shirk, J. L., Phillips, T. B., Wiggins, A., Ballard, H. L., Miller-Rushing, A. J., & Parrish, J. K. (2014). Next Steps for Citizen Science. Science, 343(6178), 1436–1437. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1251554
- Bowser, A., Wiggins, A., Shanley, L., Preece, J., & Henderson, S. (2014). Sharing data while protecting privacy in citizen science. Interactions, 21(1), 70–73. https://doi.org/10.1145/2540032
- Ceccaroni, L., Bowser, A., & Brenton, P. (2017). Civic Education and Citizen Science: Definitions, Categories, Knowledge Representation. In L. Ceccaroni & J. Piera (Eds.), Analyzing the Role of Citizen Science in Modern Research (pp. 1–23). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-0962-2.ch001
- Chandler, M., See, L., Buesching, C. D., Cousins, J. A., Gillies, C., Kays, R. W., Newman, C., Pereira, H. M., & Tiago, P. (2016). Involving Citizen Scientists in Biodiversity Observation. In R. J. Scholes & M. Walters (Eds.), The GEO Handbook on Biodiversity Observation Networks (pp. 211–237). Springer Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27288-7
- Chandler, M., See, L., Copas, K., Bonde, A. M. Z., López, B. C., Danielsen, F., Legind, J. K., Masinde, S., Miller-Rushing, A. J., Newman, G., Rosemartin, A., & Turak, E. (2017). Contribution of citizen science towards international biodiversity monitoring. Biological Conservation, 213, 280–294. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.09.004
- Cigliano, J. A., Meyer, R., Ballard, H. L., Freitag, A., Phillips, T. B., & Wasser, A. (2015). Making marine and coastal citizen science matter. Ocean & Coastal Management, 115, 77–87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2015.06.012
- Cigliano, J. A., & Ballard, H. L. (Eds.). (2017). Citizen Science for Coastal and Marine Conservation (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315638966
- Conrad, C. C., & Hilchey, K. G. (2010). A review of citizen science and community-based environmental monitoring: issues and opportunities. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 176(1–4), 273–291. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-010-1582-5
- Cox, J., Oh, E. Y., Simmons, B., Lintott, C., Masters, K., Greenhill, A., Graham, G., & Holmes, K. (2015). Defining and Measuring Success in Online Citizen Science: A Case Study of Zooniverse Projects. Computing in Science & Engineering, 17(4), 28–41. https://doi.org/10.1109/mcse.2015.65
- Cunha, D. G. F., Marques, J. F., De Resende, J. C., De Falco, P. B., De Souza, C. M., & Loiselle, S. A. (2017). Citizen science participation in research in the environmental sciences: key factors related to projects’ success and longevity. Anais Da Academia Brasileira de Ciências, 89(3 suppl), 2229–2245. https://doi.org/10.1590/0001-3765201720160548
- Dickinson, J. L., Zuckerberg, B., & Bonter, D. N. (2010). Citizen Science as an Ecological Research Tool: Challenges and Benefits. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, 41(1), 149–172. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-102209-144636
- Dickinson, J. L., Shirk, J., Bonter, D., Bonney, R., Crain, R. L., Martin, J., Phillips, T., & Purcell, K. (2012). The current state of citizen science as a tool for ecological research and public engagement. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 10(6), 291–297. https://doi.org/10.1890/110236
- Dillon, J., Stevenson, R. B., & Wals, A. E. J. (2016). Introduction to the special section Moving from Citizen to Civic Science to Address Wicked Conservation Problems. Corrected by erratum 2844. Conservation Biology, 30(3), 450–455. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12689
- Dowthwaite, L., & Sprinks, J. (2019). Citizen science and the professional-amateur divide: lessons from differing online practices. Journal of Science Communication, 18(01), A06. https://doi.org/10.22323/2.18010206
- Eitzel, M. V., Cappadonna, J. L., Santos-Lang, C., Duerr, R. E., Virapongse, A., West, S. E., Kyba, C. C. M., Bowser, A., Cooper, C. B., Sforzi, A., Metcalfe, A. N., Harris, E. S., Thiel, M., Haklay, M., Ponciano, L., Roche, J., Ceccaroni, L., Shilling, F. M., Dörler, D., … Jiang, Q. (2017). Citizen Science Terminology Matters: Exploring Key Terms. Citizen Science: Theory and Practice, 2(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.5334/cstp.96
- Eleta, I., Galdon Clavell, G., Righi, V., & Balestrini, M. (2018). The Promise of Participation and Decision-Making Power in Citizen Science. Citizen Science: Theory and Practice, 4(1), 8. https://doi.org/10.5334/cstp.171
- Follett, R., & Strezov, V. (2015). An Analysis of Citizen Science Based Research: Usage and Publication Patterns. PLOS ONE, 10(11), e0143687. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0143687
- Gadermaier, G., Dörler, D., Heigl, F., Mayr, S., Rüdisser, J., Brodschneider, R., & Marizzi, C. (2018). Peer-reviewed publishing of results from Citizen Science projects. Journal of Science Communication, 17(03). https://doi.org/10.22323/2.17030101
- Gallo, T., & Waitt, D. (2011). Creating a Successful Citizen Science Model to Detect and Report Invasive Species. BioScience, 61(6), 459–465. https://doi.org/10.1525/bio.2011.61.6.8
- Ganzevoort, W., van den Born, R. J. G., Halffman, W., & Turnhout, S. (2017). Sharing biodiversity data: citizen scientists’ concerns and motivations. Biodiversity and Conservation, 26(12), 2821–2837. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-017-1391-z
- Geijzendorffer, I. R., Regan, E. C., Pereira, H. M., Brotons, L., Brummitt, N., Gavish, Y., Haase, P., Martin, C. S., Mihoub, J.-B., Secades, C., Schmeller, D. S., Stoll, S., Wetzel, F. T., & Walters, M. (2015). Bridging the gap between biodiversity data and policy reporting needs: An Essential Biodiversity Variables perspective. Journal of Applied Ecology, 53(5), 1341–1350. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12417
- Geoghegan , H., Dyke, A., Pateman, R., West, S., & Everett, G. (2016). Understanding motivations for citizen science. UK Environmental Observation Framework (UKEOF).
- Groom, Q., Weatherdon, L., & Geijzendorffer, I. R. (2016). Is citizen science an open science in the case of biodiversity observations? Journal of Applied Ecology, 54(2), 612–617. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12767
- Groom, Q., Strubbe, D., Adriaens, T., Davis, A. J. S., Desmet, P., Oldoni, D., Reyserhove, L., Roy, H. E., & Vanderhoeven, S. (2019). Empowering Citizens to Inform Decision-Making as a Way Forward to Support Invasive Alien Species Policy. Citizen Science: Theory and Practice, 4(1), 33. https://doi.org/10.5334/cstp.238
- Haklay M., Dörler D., Heigl F., Manzoni M., Hecker S., Vohland K. (2020) What Is Citizen Science? The challenges of defining the field. in: Science of Citizen Science. Springer. Haklay, M. (2013). Citizen Science and Volunteered Geographic Information: Overview and Typology of Participation. In D. Z. Sui, S. Elwood, & M. F. Goodchild (Eds.), Crowdsourcing Geographic Knowledge (pp. 105–122). Springer, Dordrecht. 10.1007/978-3-030-58278-4.
- Hecker, S., Wicke, N., Haklay, M., & Bonn, A. (2019). How Does Policy Conceptualise Citizen Science? A Qualitative Content Analysis of International Policy Documents. Citizen Science: Theory and Practice, 4(1), 32. https://doi.org/10.5334/cstp.230
- Hill, M. O. (2011). Local frequency as a key to interpreting species occurrence data when recording effort is not known. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 3(1), 195–205. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2041-210x.2011.00146.x
- Hochachka, W. M., Fink, D., Hutchinson, R. A., Sheldon, D., Wong, W.-K., & Kelling, S. (2012). Data-intensive science applied to broad-scale citizen science. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 27(2), 130–137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2011.11.006
- Jacobs, C. (2016). Data quality in crowdsourcing for biodiversity research: issues and examples. In M. Haklay, V. Antoniou, H. Huang, C. Capineri, J. Kettunen, F. Ostermann, & R. Purves (Eds.), European Handbook of Crowdsourced Geographic Information (pp. 75–86). Ubiquity Press Ltd., London. https://doi.org/10.5334/bax
- Kelemen-Finan, J., Scheuch, M., & Winter, S. (2018). Contributions from citizen science to science education: an examination of a biodiversity citizen science project with schools in Central Europe. International Journal of Science Education, 40(17), 2078–2098. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2018.1520405
- Kelling, S., Johnston, A., Bonn, A., Fink, D., Ruiz-Gutierrez, V., Bonney, R., Fernandez, M., Hochachka, W. M., Julliard, R., Kraemer, R., & Guralnick, R. (2019). Using Semistructured Surveys to Improve Citizen Science Data for Monitoring Biodiversity. BioScience, 69(3), 170–179. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biz010
- Kosmala, M., Wiggins, A., Swanson, A., & Simmons, B. (2016). Assessing data quality in citizen science. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 14(10), 551–560. https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.1436
- Lamoureux, Z., & Fast, V. (2019). The tools of citizen science: An evaluation of map-based crowdsourcing platforms. Spatial Knowledge and Information Canada, 7(4), 1.
- Landrain, T., Meyer, M., Perez, A. M., & Sussan, R. (2013). Do-it-yourself biology: challenges and promises for an open science and technology movement. Systems and Synthetic Biology, 7(3), 115–126. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11693-013-9116-4
- Latombe, G., Pyšek, P., Jeschke, J. M., Blackburn, T. M., Bacher, S., Capinha, C., Costello, M. J., Fernández, M., Gregory, R. D., Hobern, D., Hui, C., Jetz, W., Kumschick, S., McGrannachan, C., Pergl, J., Roy, H. E., Scalera, R., Squires, Z. E., Wilson, J. R. U., … McGeoch, M. A. (2017). A vision for global monitoring of biological invasions. Biological Conservation, 213, 295–308. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.06.013
- McGeoch, M. A., & Squires, Z. (2015). An Essential Biodiversity Variable Approach to Monitoring Biological Invasions: Guide for Countries. GEO BON Technical Series 2.
- McKinley, D. C., Miller-Rushing, A. J., Ballard, H. L., Bonney, R., Brown, H., Cook-Patton, S. C., Evans, D. M., French, R. A., Parrish, J. K., Phillips, T. B., Ryan, S. F., Shanley, L. A., Shirk, J. L., Stepenuck, K. F., Weltzin, J. F., Wiggins, A., Boyle, O. D., Briggs, R. D., Chapin, S. F., … Soukup, M. A. (2017). Citizen science can improve conservation science, natural resource management, and environmental protection. Biological Conservation, 208, 15–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.05.015
- Miller-Rushing, A., Primack, R., & Bonney, R. (2012). The history of public participation in ecological research. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 10(6), 285–290. https://doi.org/10.1890/110278
- Newman, G., Wiggins, A., Crall, A., Graham, E., Newman, S., & Crowston, K. (2012). The future of citizen science: emerging technologies and shifting paradigms. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 10(6), 298–304. https://doi.org/10.1890/110294
- Peter, M., Diekötter, T., & Kremer, K. (2019). Participant Outcomes of Biodiversity Citizen Science Projects: A Systematic Literature Review. Sustainability, 11(10), 2780. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11102780
- Pimm, S. L., Alibhai, S., Bergl, R., Dehgan, A., Giri, C., Jewell, Z., Joppa, L., Kays, R., & Loarie, S. (2015). Emerging Technologies to Conserve Biodiversity. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 30(11), 685–696. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2015.08.008
- Pocock, M. J. O., Roy, H. E., Preston, C. D., & Roy, D. B. (2015a). The Biological Records Centre: a pioneer of citizen science. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 115(3), 475–493. https://doi.org/10.1111/bij.12548
- Pocock, M. J. O., Newson, S. E., Henderson, I. G., Peyton, J., Sutherland, W. J., Noble, D. G., Ball, S. G., Beckmann, B. C., Biggs, J., Brereton, T., Bullock, D. J., Buckland, S. T., Edwards, M., Eaton, M. A., Harvey, M. C., Hill, M. O., Horlock, M., Hubble, D. S., Julian, A. M., … Roy, D. B. (2015b). Developing and enhancing biodiversity monitoring programmes: a collaborative assessment of priorities. Journal of Applied Ecology, 52(3), 686–695. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12423
- Pocock, M. J. O., Tweddle, J. C., Savage, J., Robinson, L. D., & Roy, H. E. (2017). The diversity and evolution of ecological and environmental citizen science. PLOS ONE, 12(4), e0172579. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0172579.
- Pocock, M. J. O., Chandler, M., Bonney, R., Thornhill, I., Albin, A., August, T., Bachman, S., Brown, P. M. J., Cunha, D. G. F., Grez, A., Jackson, C., Peters, M., Rabarijaon, N. R., Roy, H. E., Zaviezo, T., & Danielsen, F. (2018). A Vision for Global Biodiversity Monitoring With Citizen Science. Advances in Ecological Research, 59, 169–223. doi: 10.1016/bs.aecr.2018.06.003.
- Pocock, M. J. O., Roy, H. E., August, T., Kuria, A., Barasa, F., Bett, J., Githiru, M., Kairo, J., Kimani, J., Kinuthia, W., Kissui, B., Madindou, I., Mbogo, K., Mirembe, J., Mugo, P., Muniale, F. M., Njoroge, P., Njuguna, E. G., Olendo, M. I., … Trevelyan, R. (2018). Developing the global potential of citizen science: Assessing opportunities that benefit people, society and the environment in East Africa. Journal of Applied Ecology, 56(2), 274–281. doi: 10.1111/1365-2664.13279.
- Resnik, D. B. (2019). Citizen Scientists as Human Subjects: Ethical Issues. Citizen Science: Theory and Practice, 4(1), 11. https://doi.org/10.5334/cstp.150
- Roy, H. E., Pocock, M. J. O., Preston, C. D., Roy, D. B., Savage, J., Tweddle, J. C., & Robinson, L. D. (2012). Understanding Citizen Science & Environmental Monitoring. NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology & Natural History Museum.
- Roy, H. E., Baxter, E., Saunders, A., & Pocock, M. J. O. (2016). Focal Plant Observations as a Standardised Method for Pollinator Monitoring: Opportunities and Limitations for Mass Participation Citizen Science. PLOS ONE, 11(3), e0150794. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0150794
- Schade, S., & Tsinaraki, C. (2016). Survey report: data management in Citizen Science projects. Publications Office of the European Union. https://doi.org/10.2788/539115
- Schröter, M., Kraemer, R., Mantel, M., Kabisch, N., Hecker, S., Richter, A., Neumeier, V., & Bonn, A. (2017). Citizen science for assessing ecosystem services: Status, challenges and opportunities. Ecosystem Services, 28, 80–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2017.09.017
- Silvertown, J. (2009). A new dawn for citizen science. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 24(9), 467–471. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2009.03.017
- Skarlatidou, A., Ponti, M., Sprinks, J., Nold, C., Haklay, M., & Kanjo, E. (2019). User experience of digital technologies in citizen science. Journal of Science Communication, 18(01), 1. https://doi.org/10.22323/2.18010501
- Theobald, E. J., Ettinger, A. K., Burgess, H. K., DeBey, L. B., Schmidt, N., Froelich, H. E., Wagner, C., HilleRisLambers, J., Tewksbury, J., Harsch, M. A., & Parrish, J. K. (2014, December 15). Web-based Biodiversity Citizen Science Database (assembled 2012) [Dataset]. PANGAEA. https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.840682
- Theobald, E. J., Ettinger, A. K., Burgess, H. K., DeBey, L. B., Schmidt, N. R., Froehlich, H. E., Wagner, C., HilleRisLambers, J., Tewksbury, J., Harsch, M. A., & Parrish, J. K. (2015). Global change and local solutions: Tapping the unrealized potential of citizen science for biodiversity research. Biological Conservation, 181, 236–244. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2014.10.021
- Thornhill, I., Loiselle, S., Lind, K., & Ophof, D. (2016). The Citizen Science Opportunity for Researchers and Agencies. BioScience, 66(9), 720–721. doi: 10.1093/biosci/biw089.
- Toogood, M. (2013). Engaging Publics: Biodiversity Data Collection and the Geographies of Citizen Science. Geography Compass, 7(9), 611–621. doi: 10.1111/gec3.12067.
- Tulloch, A. I. T., Possingham, H. P., Joseph, L. N., Szabo, J., & Martin, T. G. (2013). Realising the full potential of citizen science monitoring programs. Biological Conservation, 165, 128–138. doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2013.05.025.
- Van Noordwijk, C.G.E., Bischop, I., Staunton-Lamb, S., Oldfield, A., Loiselle, L., Geoghegan, H., & Ceccaroni, L. (2020). Creating positive environmental impact through citizen science. In K. Vohland, A. Land, L. Ceccaroni, J. Perello, M. Ponti, R. Samson, K. Wagenknecht, & R. Lemmers (Eds.), The Science of Citizen Science. Springer. 10.1007/978-3-030-58278-4.
- Van Noordwijk, C.G.E., Bischop, I., Staunton-Lamb, S., Oldfield, A., Loiselle, L., Geoghegan, H., & Ceccaroni, L. (2020). Creating positive environmental impact through citizen science. In: Vohland, K., Land, A., Ceccaroni, L., Lemmens, R., Perello, J., Ponti, M., Samson, R., & Wagenknecht, K. (Eds.). (2020). The Science of Citizen Science. Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-58278-4. ISBN: 978-3-030-58278-4.
- Van Strien, A. J., van Swaay, C. A. M., & Termaat, T. (2013). Opportunistic citizen science data of animal species produce reliable estimates of distribution trends if analysed with occupancy models. Journal of Applied Ecology, 50(6), 1450–1458. doi: 10.1111/1365-2664.12158.
- Van Vliet, A. J. H., Bron, W. A., & Mulder, S. (2014). The how and why of societal publications for citizen science projects and scientists. International Journal of Biometeorology, 58(4), 565–577. doi: 10.1007/s00484-014-0821-9.
- Wiggins, A., & Crowston, K. (2011, January). From Conservation to Crowdsourcing: A Typology of Citizen Science. Proceedings of the Forty-Fourth Hawai’i International Conference on System Science (HICSS-44), 1–10. doi: 10.1109/hicss.2011.207.
- Ziegler D. & Mascarenhas A. (2017). Networks for Citizen Science in Europe and Germany. Future of Food: Journal on Food, Agriculture and Society 5(3): 68-71.
III.3 Publications by Citizen Science projects
Non-exhaustive list of scientific publications from projects that have either produced or used Citizen Science approaches.
- Anderson P. (2013). Acoustic characterization of seahorse tank environments in public aquaria: A citizen science project. Aquacultural Engineering, 54, 72–77. doi: 10.1016/j.aquaeng.2012.11.004.
- Courter J.R. et al. (2013). Assessing Migration of Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds (Archilochus colubris). The Auk, 130(1), 107–117. doi: 10.1525/auk.2012.12058.
- Deidun A. & Sciberras A. (2017). Unearthing marine biodiversity through citizen science: the Spot the Jellyfish and the Spot the Alien Fish campaign case studies from the Maltese Islands (Central Mediterranean). Bulletin of the Entomological Society of Malta, 9, 86–88.
- Forrest S.A. et al. (2019). Citizen science sampling programs as a technique for monitoring microplastic pollution: results, lessons learned and recommendations for working with volunteers for monitoring plastic pollution in freshwater ecosystems. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 191(3), 172. doi: 10.1007/s10661-019-7297-3.
- Karlsson B. (2014). Extended season for northern butterflies. International Journal of Biometeorology, 58(5), 691–701. doi: 10.1007/s00484-013-0649-8.
- Koenig W.D., Liebhold A.M., Bonter D.N. et al. (2013). Effects of the emerald ash borer invasion on four species of birds. Biological Invasions, 15(9), 2095–2103. doi: 10.1007/s10530-013-0435-x.
- Slade E.M. et al. (2013). Life-history traits and landscape characteristics predict macro-moth responses to forest fragmentation. Ecology, 94(7), 1519–1530. doi: 10.1890/12-1366.1.
- Swanson, A., Kosmala, M., Lintott, C., Simpson, R., Smith, A., & Packer, C. (2015). Snapshot Serengeti, high-frequency annotated camera trap images of 40 mammalian species in an African savanna. Scientific Data, 2(1), 150026. doi: 10.1038/sdata.2015.26.
- Tonachella N. et al. (2012). Predicting trends in humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) abundance using citizen science. Pacific Conservation Biology, 18(4), 297. doi: 10.1071/pc120297.
- Tozer D.C., Falconer C.M., Badzinski D.S. (2013). Common Loon reproductive success in Canada: the west is best but not for long. Avian Conservation and Ecology, 8(1), 1. doi: 10.5751/ace-00569-080101.
- Vercayie D. & Herremans M. (2015). Citizen science and smartphones take roadkill monitoring to the next level. Nature Conservation, 11, 29–40. doi: 10.3897/natureconservation.11.4439.
III.4 Policy-related documents
- Bonn, A., Richter, A., Vohland, K., Pettibone, L., Brandt, M., Feldmann, R., Goebel, C., Grefe, C., Hecker, S., Hennen, L., Hofer, H., Kiefer, S., Klotz, S., Kluttig, T., Krause, J., Küsel, K., Liedtke, C., Mahla, A., Neumeier, V., Premke-Kraus, M., Rillig, M. C., Röller, O., Schäffler, L., Schmalzbauer, B., Schneidewind, U., Schumann, A., Settele, J., Tochtermann, K., Tockner, K., Vogel, J., Volkmann, W., von Unger, H., Walter, D., Weisskopf, M., Wirth, C., Witt, T., Wolst, D. & D. Ziegler. (2016). Green Paper: Citizen Science Strategy 2020 for Germany. Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), German Centre for integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science (MfN), Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research (BBIB).
- ECSA. (2015). Endorsing the German Green Paper on Citizen Science [Policy Paper #1]. European Citizen Science Association.
- ECSA. (2016a). Endorsing the White Paper on Citizen Science for Europe [Policy Paper #2]. European Citizen Science Association.
- ECSA. (2016b). Citizen Science as part of EU Policy Delivery – EU Directives [Policy Paper #3]. European Citizen Science Association.
- European Commission, Directorate-General for Environment; European Commission, Joint Research Centre; Bio Innovation Service. (2018). An inventory of citizen science activities for environmental policies [Dataset]. European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC).
- Runnel, V., Wetzel, F., Groom, Q., Koch, W., Pe’er, I., Valland, N., Panteri, E., & Kõljalg, U. (2016). Summary report and strategy recommendations for EU citizen science gateway for biodiversity data. Research Ideas and Outcomes, 2, e11563. doi:10.3897/rio.2.e11563.
- SiS.net. (2017). Citizen Science Policies in the European Commission: Research Agendas towards Issues of Concern to Citizens [Policy Brief #3]. SiS.net – Network of National Contact Points for Science with and for Society in Horizon 2020.
III.5 News and blog articles
- Barone, Ted (2016). The Art & Science of Citizen Science. iNaturalist Project website. 10 Sep 2016.
- Toth, Kyle (2017). 5 Reasons Citizen Science Can Help To Save Biodiversity. Biodiversity Professionals Blog. 29 Jan 2017.
- Buchan, K. (2016). Citizen science: how the net is changing the role of amateur researchers. The Guardian. July 2016.
- CREAF (2017). Citizen science emerges as a significant ally to biodiversity. CREAF Blog. January 2017.
- Fritsch-Kosmider, P. (2018). Citizen science is needed to track biodiversity. New Scientist. 239(3191). p. 52. Published 15 Aug 2018.
- Haklay, M. (2018). How many citizen scientists in the world? Po Ve Sham – Muki Haklay’s personal blog. 5 Oct 2018.
- International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (2016). Biodiversity needs citizen scientists. Science X. 3 Nov 2016.
- Mallapaty, S. (2018). Data brief: Citizen science papers have more impact. Nature Index. 23 November 2018.
- Nature (2015). Rise of the citizen scientist. Nature Editorial. 20 Aug 2015. No authors listed. DOI: 10.1038/524265a.
- SPNL (2016). Good news for lynx, wolf, bear (& citizen science) from Slovakia. 23 Jan 2016.
- Toomey, D. (2014). How Rise of Citizen Science Is Democratizing Research. Yale Environment 360, 28 Jan 2014.
- UKEOF (2017). Barriers to stakeholder participation in citizen science. 15 Apr 2017.
- Waller J. (2019a). Will citizen science take over? GBIF Data Blog. 21 Jan 2019.
- Waller J. (2019b). Citizen Science on GBIF – 2019. GBIF Data Blog. 2 Aug 2019.
- Wittmayer, J. & Janssen, A. (2019). Citizen science – towards democratic science and environmental democracy? Drift Blog. 3 June 2019.
The ECSA website proposes a collection of documents and guides on Citizen Science.
NIDA has published an extensive bibliography of scientific publications on Citizen Science which contains many additional publications not referenced in the present document.