The role of the librarian is to facilitate dialogue between the researcher and the citizen scientist in the area of ethical compatibility. Researchers should take the necessary steps to ensure the rights and well-being of participating citizen scientists and to respect and protect their individual rights, including privacy. 

Ethical challenges must be adequately addressed by preparing for them in advance.

  • Legal status of the participants

Citizen scientists are generally not paid for their input, although they may benefit from their participation in many other ways. When citizen scientists volunteer without remuneration, their work is exempted from most employment laws and practices governing their scientific collaborators. It is necessary to protect the participants from exploitation. 

  • Informed consent
It is crucial to obtain informed consent from citizen science participants. Project managers must ensure that participants understand the study's purpose, procedures, potential risks, and benefits before they agree to participate. The informed consent process should be designed so that participants understand what will happen to the information they collect.

  • Confidentiality
Researchers must maintain the confidentiality of participants' personal information, data, and research findings. This includes protecting participants' privacy and preventing unauthorized access to their data.

  • Bias
In order to ensure the accuracy and representativeness of the collected data, it is necessary to avoid participant selection bias in citizen science. Researchers or project managers should outreach to diverse communities and clearly define the eligibility criteria for participation in the citizen science project. They must take steps to ensure that participants are recruited fairly and that their contributions are appropriately analyzed and interpreted. 

  • Data quality
 Citizen science projects often involve data collected by non-experts, which may be less reliable than data collected by trained professionals. Maintaining high data quality is essential for ensuring the reliability, validity, and usefulness of citizen science data. Researchers must ensure that participants receive appropriate training and guidance to collect accurate data.  

  • Intellectual property
 Citizen science participants may create intellectual property, such as photographs, videos, or software code. Researchers must ensure that participants' intellectual property rights are respected and that they are appropriately credited for their contributions. 

  • Fairness
Citizen science projects should ensure fairness in access to participation and benefits. This includes considering issues such as equity, diversity, and inclusion, and ensuring that all participants have equal opportunities to participate and benefit from the research. 

  • Conflict of interest

In some cases, volunteers may have personal interests in the research or may have competing interests that could influence their participation or interpretation of the data. Researchers have a responsibility to ensure that volunteers disclose any potential conflicts of interest and to take steps to mitigate these conflicts..

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  • Webinar on ethical issues in Citizen Science:
   


References:
Network of the National Library of Medicine. (2021). Ethical considerations in citizen science with Dr. Rasmussen. https://youtu.be/7ZKBtrGUaEU

Resnik, David B., Elliott, Kevin C. and Miller, Aubrey K.  (2015). A framework for addressing ethical issues in citizen science. Environmental Science & Policy, 54: 475–481, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2015.05.008

Guidelines 05/2020 on consent under Regulation 2016/679,” Article 7.3, European Data Protection Board, adopted May 4, 2020, edpb_guidelines_202005_consent_en.pdf 

Last modified: Sunday, 11 June 2023, 6:55 PM