Citizen Science Terminology Matters: Exploring Key Terms

Melissa Eitzel; Jessica Cappadonna; Chris Santos-Lang; Ruth Duerr; Sarah Elizabeth West; Arika Virapongse; Christopher Kyba; Anne Bowser; Caren Cooper; Andrea Sforzi; Anya Metcalfe; Edward Harris; Martin Thiel; Mordechai Haklay; Lesandro Ponciano; Joseph Roche; Luidi Ceccaroni; Fraser Shilling; Daniel Dorler; Florian Heigl; Tim Kiessling; Brittany Davis; Qijun Jiang

Citizen Science Terminology Matters: Exploring Key Terms

Melissa Eitzel, Jessica Cappadonna, Chris Santos-Lang, Ruth Duerr, Sarah Elizabeth West, Arika Virapongse, Christopher Kyba, Anne Bowser, Caren Cooper, Andrea Sforzi, Anya Metcalfe, Edward Harris, Martin Thiel, Mordechai Haklay, Lesandro Ponciano, Joseph Roche, Luidi Ceccaroni, Fraser Shilling, Daniel Dorler, Florian HeiglTim Kiessling, Brittany Davis, Qijun Jiang

Stockholm Environment Institute at York

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Much can be at stake depending on the choice of words used to describe citizen science, because terminology impacts how knowledge is developed. Citizen science is a quickly evolving field that is mobilizing people’s involvement in information development, social action and justice, and large-scale information gathering. Currently, a wide variety of terms and expressions are being used to refer to the concept of ‘citizen science’ and its practitioners. Here, we explore these terms to help provide guidance for the future growth of this field. We do this by reviewing the theoretical, historical, geopolitical, and disciplinary context of citizen science terminology; discussing what citizen science is and reviewing related terms; and providing a collection of potential terms and definitions for ‘citizen science’ and people participating in citizen science projects. This collection of terms was generated primarily from the broad knowledge base and on-the-ground experience of the authors, by recognizing the potential issues associated with various terms. While our examples may not be systematic or exhaustive, they are intended to be suggestive and invitational of future consideration. In our collective experience with citizen science projects, no single term is appropriate for all contexts. In a given citizen science project, we suggest that terms should be chosen carefully and their usage explained; direct communication with participants about how terminology affects them and what they would prefer to be called also should occur. We further recommend that a more systematic study of terminology trends in citizen science be conducted.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1-20
Number of pages	20
Journal	Citizen Science: Theory and Practice
Volume	2
Issue number	1
Publication status	Published - 5 Jun 2017

Bibliographical note

Access to Document

96-799-1-PB
© 2017 The Author(s).
Final published version, 2.26 MBLicence: CC BY

http://theoryandpractice.citizenscienceassociation.org/article/10.5334/cstp.96/Licence: CC BY

Cite this

Eitzel, M., Cappadonna, J., Santos-Lang, C., Duerr, R., West, S. E., Virapongse, A., Kyba, C., Bowser, A., Cooper, C., Sforzi, A., Metcalfe, A., Harris, E., Thiel, M., Haklay, M., Ponciano, L., Roche, J., Ceccaroni, L., Shilling, F., Dorler, D., ... Jiang, Q. (2017). Citizen Science Terminology Matters: Exploring Key Terms. Citizen Science: Theory and Practice, 2(1), 1-20. http://theoryandpractice.citizenscienceassociation.org/article/10.5334/cstp.96/

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title = "Citizen Science Terminology Matters: Exploring Key Terms",

abstract = "Much can be at stake depending on the choice of words used to describe citizen science, because terminology impacts how knowledge is developed. Citizen science is a quickly evolving field that is mobilizing people{\textquoteright}s involvement in information development, social action and justice, and large-scale information gathering. Currently, a wide variety of terms and expressions are being used to refer to the concept of {\textquoteleft}citizen science{\textquoteright} and its practitioners. Here, we explore these terms to help provide guidance for the future growth of this field. We do this by reviewing the theoretical, historical, geopolitical, and disciplinary context of citizen science terminology; discussing what citizen science is and reviewing related terms; and providing a collection of potential terms and definitions for {\textquoteleft}citizen science{\textquoteright} and people participating in citizen science projects. This collection of terms was generated primarily from the broad knowledge base and on-the-ground experience of the authors, by recognizing the potential issues associated with various terms. While our examples may not be systematic or exhaustive, they are intended to be suggestive and invitational of future consideration. In our collective experience with citizen science projects, no single term is appropriate for all contexts. In a given citizen science project, we suggest that terms should be chosen carefully and their usage explained; direct communication with participants about how terminology affects them and what they would prefer to be called also should occur. We further recommend that a more systematic study of terminology trends in citizen science be conducted. ",

author = "Melissa Eitzel and Jessica Cappadonna and Chris Santos-Lang and Ruth Duerr and West, {Sarah Elizabeth} and Arika Virapongse and Christopher Kyba and Anne Bowser and Caren Cooper and Andrea Sforzi and Anya Metcalfe and Edward Harris and Martin Thiel and Mordechai Haklay and Lesandro Ponciano and Joseph Roche and Luidi Ceccaroni and Fraser Shilling and Daniel Dorler and Florian Heigl and Tim Kiessling and Brittany Davis and Qijun Jiang",

note = "{\textcopyright} 2017 The Author(s).",

year = "2017",

month = jun,

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Eitzel, M, Cappadonna, J, Santos-Lang, C, Duerr, R, West, SE, Virapongse, A, Kyba, C, Bowser, A, Cooper, C, Sforzi, A, Metcalfe, A, Harris, E, Thiel, M, Haklay, M, Ponciano, L, Roche, J, Ceccaroni, L, Shilling, F, Dorler, D, Heigl, F, Kiessling, T, Davis, B & Jiang, Q 2017, 'Citizen Science Terminology Matters: Exploring Key Terms', Citizen Science: Theory and Practice, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 1-20. <http://theoryandpractice.citizenscienceassociation.org/article/10.5334/cstp.96/>

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T1 - Citizen Science Terminology Matters: Exploring Key Terms

AU - Eitzel, Melissa

AU - Cappadonna, Jessica

AU - Santos-Lang, Chris

AU - Duerr, Ruth

AU - West, Sarah Elizabeth

AU - Virapongse, Arika

AU - Kyba, Christopher

AU - Bowser, Anne

AU - Cooper, Caren

AU - Sforzi, Andrea

AU - Metcalfe, Anya

AU - Harris, Edward

AU - Thiel, Martin

AU - Haklay, Mordechai

AU - Ponciano, Lesandro

AU - Roche, Joseph

AU - Ceccaroni, Luidi

AU - Shilling, Fraser

AU - Dorler, Daniel

AU - Heigl, Florian

AU - Kiessling, Tim

AU - Davis, Brittany

AU - Jiang, Qijun

PY - 2017/6/5

Y1 - 2017/6/5

N2 - Much can be at stake depending on the choice of words used to describe citizen science, because terminology impacts how knowledge is developed. Citizen science is a quickly evolving field that is mobilizing people’s involvement in information development, social action and justice, and large-scale information gathering. Currently, a wide variety of terms and expressions are being used to refer to the concept of ‘citizen science’ and its practitioners. Here, we explore these terms to help provide guidance for the future growth of this field. We do this by reviewing the theoretical, historical, geopolitical, and disciplinary context of citizen science terminology; discussing what citizen science is and reviewing related terms; and providing a collection of potential terms and definitions for ‘citizen science’ and people participating in citizen science projects. This collection of terms was generated primarily from the broad knowledge base and on-the-ground experience of the authors, by recognizing the potential issues associated with various terms. While our examples may not be systematic or exhaustive, they are intended to be suggestive and invitational of future consideration. In our collective experience with citizen science projects, no single term is appropriate for all contexts. In a given citizen science project, we suggest that terms should be chosen carefully and their usage explained; direct communication with participants about how terminology affects them and what they would prefer to be called also should occur. We further recommend that a more systematic study of terminology trends in citizen science be conducted.

AB - Much can be at stake depending on the choice of words used to describe citizen science, because terminology impacts how knowledge is developed. Citizen science is a quickly evolving field that is mobilizing people’s involvement in information development, social action and justice, and large-scale information gathering. Currently, a wide variety of terms and expressions are being used to refer to the concept of ‘citizen science’ and its practitioners. Here, we explore these terms to help provide guidance for the future growth of this field. We do this by reviewing the theoretical, historical, geopolitical, and disciplinary context of citizen science terminology; discussing what citizen science is and reviewing related terms; and providing a collection of potential terms and definitions for ‘citizen science’ and people participating in citizen science projects. This collection of terms was generated primarily from the broad knowledge base and on-the-ground experience of the authors, by recognizing the potential issues associated with various terms. While our examples may not be systematic or exhaustive, they are intended to be suggestive and invitational of future consideration. In our collective experience with citizen science projects, no single term is appropriate for all contexts. In a given citizen science project, we suggest that terms should be chosen carefully and their usage explained; direct communication with participants about how terminology affects them and what they would prefer to be called also should occur. We further recommend that a more systematic study of terminology trends in citizen science be conducted.

M3 - Article

SN - 2057-4991

VL - 2

SP - 1

EP - 20

JO - Citizen Science: Theory and Practice

JF - Citizen Science: Theory and Practice

IS - 1

ER -