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Writer's pictureRoxana S
Sep 204 min read

‘Integrity Insurance’? New Insights on Citizen Science

Updated: Sep 30



ISGlobal Summer School in Global Health, supported by the Centre of Excellence Severo Ochoa Programme, is an interdisciplinary teaching program that connects researchers, professionals, and students worldwide. This year, I participated in their course on Citizen Science.


I was curious about this course because my own doctoral work was a participatory research into sexual health services for adolescents in Toronto, Canada. Now, over a decade later, I was eager to understand how the field has grown and what conversations are happening in Barcelona, my new home.


1. What is Citizen Science?

If you have never heard of this word, citizen science is a collaborative approach where the public and scientists work together to address real-world challenges (e.g. air pollution, anti-microbial resistance). And we are not talking about “Oh I checked that box on my application and said people will be involved” but we are talking about “meaningful engagement” of people. Some times people participate throughout the entire research process, from idea generation to execution of activities and advocacy for change. Other times they participate only in certain phases, dependent on the context. Knowledge is bidirectional (if not multi-directional) and both the research scientist and participants learn from each other.


2. Citizen Science vs. Participatory Research: What’s the Difference?


Words are powerful. And they are contextual.


In Canada, using the term “citizen” has a strong legal connotation. Given my doctoral thesis focused on immigration youth (including those without papers and legal status ), I was particularly conscious of the words I was using to describe the research. We opted not to call it citizen science for that reason. We didn’t want to unintentionally suggest that refugee youth or “non-status” youth were excluded from the work.


There are other examples too: Smithsonian Environmental Research Centre has changed the name of their Citizen Science Program to ‘Association of Advancing Participatory Science, in 2023. See also this article in the journal Trends in Ecology & Evolution titled “Citizen science needs a name change.”


As I discussed this issue with some friends in Barcelona, what I heard was that they perceived 'citizen' as 'ordinary people,' so the terminology didn create the same exclusion that it did in my mind, having worked in Canada on immigration issues.


Whether you agree or disagree with the name, ultimately, the core principles of participatory research and citizen science are the same.


3. What Tools Can You Use for Citizen Science Projects?

The course introduced several tools to enhance citizen science projects. Some of my favourites were:


CitieS-Health Toolkit : A customizable, interactive tool to engage communities and address their concerns.


Sociograms: sociograms visualize stakeholder relationships based on their power and affinity to the project. It’s a great way to replace traditional Excel spreadsheets, and I can see that for my work they can be especially  useful for large consortium projects. For an example, check out Figure 2 of this open-access article on the RECETAS Project in Barcelona.


The only thing I would add here is the possibility of including sociograms in a larger 'system's map' of the project that contains all the other elements of the project system (another blog on this soon).


Virtual Engagement Platforms: I particularly liked Ahaslides and I personally use Stream Alive, for making real-time virtual participation more dynamic, interactive, and fun!


4. What Communities in Europe Are Leading in Citizen Science?

Several communities across Europe are making strides in citizen science. These are two worth noting:


CitieShealthEU: This initiative involves citizens and scientists from five European cities collaborating to examine the impact of living environments on health.


Citizen Science Office in Barcelona: Home to over 15 active projects, this office connects citizen science efforts across disciplines in Barcelona.


5. Which Ethical Considerations are Relevant to Citizen Science?

Just like any other research, citizen science faces important ethical challenges. One key concern, for example, is the potential for data manipulation or biased reporting. Imagine a  projects where participants are measuring air pollution, someone frustrated with poor air quality might be tempted to exaggerate the data.


To address this, we talked about ethics by design—embedding ethical considerations at every stage of the research process and continually reflecting on ethical issues that arise. We also talked about our responsibility as researchers to train the participants on ethics.


But who is ultimately responsible for handling ethical breaches in citizen science projects, and how should they be addressed? This is not a simple question, and there are no universal answers. However, some guidelines do exist.


One interesting concept I hadn’t encountered before was introduced in an article shared during the course: research integrity insurance (see Rasmussen, 2020). Research integrity insurance works by creating a formal mechanism of accountability. Projects would pay a small fee to join a research integrity board, which would have the authority to investigate claims of misconduct, such as data falsification or unethical behavior. The fees collected would fund these investigations, ensuring that any claims can be properly addressed. Although the insurance might never need to be used, the presence of such a system encourages participants and researchers to act ethically from the outset.


I personally don't know of any project that has set up or used a research integrity insurance system, but the idea intrigued me.


Citizen science projects conducted in Europe must pay close attention to General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance. These regulations ensure that participants' personal data is handled with care, and consent must be explicitly obtained before any information is collected, used, or shared. If you’re working in Europe, this GDPR compliance guide is a useful resource for navigating these regulations.


Conclusion

The ISGlobal Summer School provided valuable insights, tools, and resources about how citizen science can meaningfully engage communities and make research more impactful. Thank you ISGlobal!



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