Leadership & Participation
Disciplinary Aspects
Core Concepts
ESCA Characteristicsof Citizen Science
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Citizen science is a common name for a wide range of activities and practices. It is possible to understand it by considering the characteristics of those activities and practices.This list attempts to represent a wide range of opinions in an inclusive way, to allow for different types of projects and programmes, where context-specific criteria can be set.ECSA, 2020
Data & Knowledge
Financial Aspects
How is its practice?
Areas
+ info
+ info
Areas
Disciplinary Aspects
While citizen science can be featured in all scientific fields, there is a need to define methodological practices and standards to ensure that citizen science preserves its identity.
The main disciplines in which citizen science projects have contributed are science and technology, arts and humanities, social sciences and medical sciences and human health. To propose a successful citizen science project, it is necessary to establish standards that differentiate between stablished practices like participatory action research or voluntary engagement as a research subject and participants in a citizen science project, as well as safeguarding the personal data of the participants. The ESCA recommends using the 10 Principles of Citizen Science as a guide to create an explicit assessment of a citizen science project as such.
Data & Knowledge
- Data & knowledge generation
- Data ownership & use
- Data quality
- Lay, local & traditional knowledge sharing and application
- Opportunistic vs systematic data collection
- Digital data collection tools
- Sharing personal and medical data
Leadership & Participation
- Individual led
- Commercial activities
- Types of organizations
- Degree of engagement
- Small vs large scale
- Professionalism vs volunteerisim
- Science engahement vs science education
- Links to decision making
Leadership & Participation
Citizen science projects can be led both by people (participants, researchers or communities) or organizations (such as public bodies or institutions, non-governmental organizations, etc). While projects implemented for commercial use are not part of citizen science, they may be considered so if they are transparent and aligned with the 10 Principles of Citizen Science.
Participation in citizen science projects can also vary in scale and engagement, with scale depending of the project’s context and goals while encouraging active engagement in several phases of the research process.
Citizen science projects can also include involved community decision-making or educational outcomes related to scientific research. In those cases, it is recommended to arrange a strong implementation of the chosen disciplinary standards to keep scientific rigor, as well as establishing specific research and investigation goals while keeping science education in a support role.
Disciplinary Aspects
- Methodological practices, standars and conventions of scientific and technological disciplines
- Arts and humanities research practices
- Medical sciences and human health context
Data & Knowledge
Citizen science projects can generate a wide range of data, which needs to be treated in a way that is faithful to the disciplinary standards of the field it works in while safeguarding the goals and needs of the participants. Therefore, the data collection process should contemplate protocols and datasets that allow for a collection of high-quality information in both systematic or opportunistic ways, corresponding to the project’s context. It should also encourage open access practices and participant ownership of the data they generate while providing protection of personal data in specific sensitive contexts, such as medical and social sciences, which commonly use digital collection tools for their research.
Financial Aspects
- Financial support for scientific research
- Payment to take part in a project
- Incentives to participate in an activity
Core Concepts
Due to the wide range of disciplines in which citizen science can participate, there is a need to define what constitutes as citizen science, as well as how it interacts with different fields. Citizen science features the same practices as general scientific research, along with following protocols and practices in accordance with the disciplines in which the project is framed. This discipline differentiation, together with the flexibility of citizen science, ensures rigor and accurate data treatment while also preserving the communication and transparence needed to safeguard a consensual involvement of the participants, who feature in citizen science projects not as research subject, but active researchers.
Financial Aspects
Projects involving pure financial support such as crowdfunding, subscription fees or donations are not considered as citizen science, since they do not incorporate participation in scientific research. However, it is possible for citizen science projects to receive funding: participants can provide financial contribution to participate, as long as this funding does not affect social inclusion. Participants may also receive incentives to promote the project or the quality of the data retrieved.
Core Concepts
- Scientific research vs research
- Research practices
- Intention and framing
- Roles and responsibilities
- Subject vs participant
- Ethics
ECSA Characteristics of Citizen Science
Marina R.R
Created on June 10, 2026
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Transcript
Leadership & Participation
Disciplinary Aspects
Core Concepts
ESCA Characteristicsof Citizen Science
+ info
Areas
+ info
Areas
+ info
Areas
Citizen science is a common name for a wide range of activities and practices. It is possible to understand it by considering the characteristics of those activities and practices.This list attempts to represent a wide range of opinions in an inclusive way, to allow for different types of projects and programmes, where context-specific criteria can be set.ECSA, 2020
Data & Knowledge
Financial Aspects
How is its practice?
Areas
+ info
+ info
Areas
Disciplinary Aspects
While citizen science can be featured in all scientific fields, there is a need to define methodological practices and standards to ensure that citizen science preserves its identity. The main disciplines in which citizen science projects have contributed are science and technology, arts and humanities, social sciences and medical sciences and human health. To propose a successful citizen science project, it is necessary to establish standards that differentiate between stablished practices like participatory action research or voluntary engagement as a research subject and participants in a citizen science project, as well as safeguarding the personal data of the participants. The ESCA recommends using the 10 Principles of Citizen Science as a guide to create an explicit assessment of a citizen science project as such.
Data & Knowledge
Leadership & Participation
Leadership & Participation
Citizen science projects can be led both by people (participants, researchers or communities) or organizations (such as public bodies or institutions, non-governmental organizations, etc). While projects implemented for commercial use are not part of citizen science, they may be considered so if they are transparent and aligned with the 10 Principles of Citizen Science. Participation in citizen science projects can also vary in scale and engagement, with scale depending of the project’s context and goals while encouraging active engagement in several phases of the research process. Citizen science projects can also include involved community decision-making or educational outcomes related to scientific research. In those cases, it is recommended to arrange a strong implementation of the chosen disciplinary standards to keep scientific rigor, as well as establishing specific research and investigation goals while keeping science education in a support role.
Disciplinary Aspects
Data & Knowledge
Citizen science projects can generate a wide range of data, which needs to be treated in a way that is faithful to the disciplinary standards of the field it works in while safeguarding the goals and needs of the participants. Therefore, the data collection process should contemplate protocols and datasets that allow for a collection of high-quality information in both systematic or opportunistic ways, corresponding to the project’s context. It should also encourage open access practices and participant ownership of the data they generate while providing protection of personal data in specific sensitive contexts, such as medical and social sciences, which commonly use digital collection tools for their research.
Financial Aspects
Core Concepts
Due to the wide range of disciplines in which citizen science can participate, there is a need to define what constitutes as citizen science, as well as how it interacts with different fields. Citizen science features the same practices as general scientific research, along with following protocols and practices in accordance with the disciplines in which the project is framed. This discipline differentiation, together with the flexibility of citizen science, ensures rigor and accurate data treatment while also preserving the communication and transparence needed to safeguard a consensual involvement of the participants, who feature in citizen science projects not as research subject, but active researchers.
Financial Aspects
Projects involving pure financial support such as crowdfunding, subscription fees or donations are not considered as citizen science, since they do not incorporate participation in scientific research. However, it is possible for citizen science projects to receive funding: participants can provide financial contribution to participate, as long as this funding does not affect social inclusion. Participants may also receive incentives to promote the project or the quality of the data retrieved.
Core Concepts