Kullenberg Christopher, Kasperowski Dick
Department of Philosophy, Linguistics and Theory of Science, Univerisity Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
PLoS One. 2016 Jan 14;11(1):e0147152. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0147152. eCollection 2016.
The concept of citizen science (CS) is currently referred to by many actors inside and outside science and research. Several descriptions of this purportedly new approach of science are often heard in connection with large datasets and the possibilities of mobilizing crowds outside science to assists with observations and classifications. However, other accounts refer to CS as a way of democratizing science, aiding concerned communities in creating data to influence policy and as a way of promoting political decision processes involving environment and health.
In this study we analyse two datasets (N = 1935, N = 633) retrieved from the Web of Science (WoS) with the aim of giving a scientometric description of what the concept of CS entails. We account for its development over time, and what strands of research that has adopted CS and give an assessment of what scientific output has been achieved in CS-related projects. To attain this, scientometric methods have been combined with qualitative approaches to render more precise search terms.
Results indicate that there are three main focal points of CS. The largest is composed of research on biology, conservation and ecology, and utilizes CS mainly as a methodology of collecting and classifying data. A second strand of research has emerged through geographic information research, where citizens participate in the collection of geographic data. Thirdly, there is a line of research relating to the social sciences and epidemiology, which studies and facilitates public participation in relation to environmental issues and health. In terms of scientific output, the largest body of articles are to be found in biology and conservation research. In absolute numbers, the amount of publications generated by CS is low (N = 1935), but over the past decade a new and very productive line of CS based on digital platforms has emerged for the collection and classification of data.
公民科学（CS）的概念目前被科研界内外的许多人士提及。人们经常会听到一些关于这种所谓新科学方法的描述，这些描述往往与大型数据集以及动员科学界以外的人群协助进行观察和分类的可能性有关。然而，其他说法将公民科学视为一种使科学民主化的方式，帮助相关社区创建数据以影响政策，以及促进涉及环境与健康的政治决策过程的一种方式。
在本研究中，我们分析了从科学网（WoS）检索到的两个数据集（N = 1935，N = 633），旨在对公民科学概念的内涵进行科学计量学描述。我们阐述了其随时间的发展情况，哪些研究领域采用了公民科学，并对公民科学相关项目所取得的科研成果进行了评估。为实现这一目标，我们将科学计量学方法与定性方法相结合，以得出更精确的检索词。
结果表明，公民科学有三个主要焦点。最大的焦点由生物学、保护和生态学研究组成，主要将公民科学用作收集和分类数据的一种方法。第二条研究脉络是通过地理信息研究出现的，公民参与地理数据的收集。第三，有一系列与社会科学和流行病学相关的研究，该研究探讨并促进公众参与环境问题和健康相关事务。在科研成果方面，数量最多的文章集中在生物学和保护研究领域。从绝对数量来看，公民科学产生的出版物数量较少（N = 1935），但在过去十年中，出现了一条基于数字平台的全新且成果丰硕的公民科学研究路线，用于数据的收集和分类。
