Democratising science

Citizen science has a long history but is increasingly being used for gathering and analysing big data. Ana Delicado of the University of Lisbon looks at its benefits and drawbacks.

Citizen science is both very old and very new. It’s old because most sciences emerged from amateur efforts to understand the natural world: initiatives such as the Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count, for example, are over a century old and still going strong. But it’s also very new in that the concept has become widespread in the past 10 years.

It encompasses a wide array of research endeavours that rely on the collaboration of non-scientists. From counting butterflies to identifying planets, from locating invading plants to catching stalled brain vessels, from measuring pollution to deciphering ancient manuscripts, there are plenty of ways citizens can contribute to the advancement of scientific knowledge.