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Citizen Science is one of the pillars of Open Science, the global movement that aims to make (the results of) scientific research accessible to all levels of society, amateur or professional. Citizen Science is the practice of involving the public in the scientific process on a voluntary basis. Citizen scientists may help forming research questions, collecting data, and/or analyzing and drawing conclusions from the research data. 

Citizen Science has a number of benefits for science and society as a whole:

• Involving the public and other parties (e.g. organizations, local government, or volunteer networks) may lead to innovative insights;
• It may accelerate the direct societal impact due to a unique collaboration between citizens, the scientific community, companies and policy makers;
• Citizen Science contributes to enhancing the public's trust in science and the scientific process, as the public's needs, values, and concerns are included in the process. 
• Citizen Science may contribute to the public's scientific literacy;
• Citizen Science democratizes the scientific process;

This Library Guide aims to provide information about a range of aspects of Citizen Science: its origin, news, recent developments, CS projects at Hanzehogeschool, international platforms, and more.

1. Citizen science projects actively involve citizens in scientific endeavour that generates new knowledge or understanding. Citizens may act as contributors, collaborators, or as project leader and have a meaningful role in the project.

2. Citizen science projects have a genuine science outcome. For example, answering a research question, informing conservation action, or facilitating policy decisions.

3. Citizen science provides benefits to both science and society. Benefits may include learning opportunities, personal enjoyment, social benefits, the publication of research outputs, contributing to scientific evidence that can influence policy on many scales (locally, nationally, and internationally), and connecting the wider community with science.

4. Citizen scientists may participate in various stages of the scientific process. This may include developing research questions, designing methods, gathering and analysing data, and communicating results.

5. Citizen scientists receive feedback from the project. For example, how their data are being used and the research, policy or societal outcomes.

6. Citizen science, as with all forms of scientific inquiry, has limitations and biases that should be considered and controlled for. However, unlike traditional research approaches, citizen science provides greater opportunity for public engagement and participation, increasing accessibility of science in society.

7. Where possible and suitable, project data and meta-data from citizen science projects are made publicly available and results are published in an open access format. Data sharing may occur during or after the project, unless there are security or privacy concerns that prevent this from occurring.

8. Citizen scientists are suitably acknowledged by projects. This may include acknowledgement in project communications, result reporting and publications.

9. Citizen science programs offer a range of benefits and outcomes which should be acknowledged and considered in project evaluation. Communication and evaluation of projects could include scientific outputs, data quality, participant experience and learning, knowledge sharing, social benefits, capacity building, new ways of science engagement, enhanced stakeholder dialogue, and wider societal or policy impact.

10. The leaders of citizen science projects take into consideration legal and ethical considerations of the project. These considerations include copyright, intellectual property, data sharing agreements, confidentiality, attribution, participant safety and wellbeing, traditional owner consultation, and the environmental impact of any activities.