Did you know? April is Citizen Science month!
Citizen science is a term that is growing in popularity; you are likely familiar with it without even realizing. Every time you’ve filled out a survey on a subject outside of your field, posted your opinion about a research topic or scientific area of interest on social media, or shared a picture you took in nature hoping someone could identify the species you encountered, you were participating in citizen science. In the recently published ebook, The Science of Citizen Science, the authors define citizen science as active engagement in the scientific process by a member of the public (Vohland et al., 2021).
Recently, amateur scientists across the globe, including many Canadians, have joined in the efforts to help track and combat the global pandemic that has been with us now for over a year. By engaging the public in data collection (most often using the Internet, smartphones, and social media), researchers can retrieve more data over a shorter period of time, and from more representative demographics.
Smartphone apps like Zoe, the COVID Symptom Study app, help researchers track the spread of COVID-19. Likewise, many academic journal publishers are enabling researchers to publish their findings faster and more freely, ultimately working towards increasing the global body of knowledge on COVID-19 (Redhead, 2020).
Despite the numerous benefits of this type of public engagement, there are some things to be wary of, including the integrity and security of your personal information. Remember to read the fine print before hitting the ‘I agree’ button. Always make sure the app, website, or organization conducting the research states clearly that they will maintain your anonymity to the best of their ability (Katapally, 2020).
Even with the risks, citizen science has proven that international collaboration is key to fighting back against this deadly virus—just look at how smartphone apps across the world have helped governments and researchers track the spread of COVID-19 (Birkin, Vasileiou, Stagg, 2021)!
Here are some of the ways you can participate in citizen science and help the world grow closer to understanding the impact of COVID-19:
Become a FluWatcher
Before COVID-19, FluWatchers helped scientists from the Public Health Agency of Canada monitor the spread of flu-like illnesses across Canada. Now registered volunteer FluWatchers are also tracking COVID-19 by answering two quick health-related questions each week.
Outbreaks Near Me
This website was created to help the public securely and anonymously check in to help researchers track symptoms of COVID-19 across North America.
CoronaReport
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected more than just our physical health. Citizens can use this app to help track the impact of the coronavirus on their social, mental, and behavioural health, too.
Cochrane Crowd
Help Cochrane’s collaborative team of volunteers categorize and summarize health care research in support of evidence-based medicine.
For more information, visit our COVID-19 Research guide and stay up to date: https://library.nshealth.ca/COVID19Research.
References
Birkin, L.J, Vasileiou, E, Stagg, H.R., (2021). Citizen science in the time of COVID-19. Thorax. doi: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2020-216673
Katapally T. R. (2020). A Global Digital Citizen Science Policy to Tackle Pandemics Like COVID-19. J Med Internet Res, 22(5), e19357. https://doi.org/10.2196/19357
Redhead, C. (2020, April 27). Scholarly publishers are working together to maximize efficiency during COVID-19 pandemic. Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association. https://oaspa.org/scholarly-publishers-working-together-during-covid-19-pandemic/
Vohland, K., Land-zandstra, A., Ceccaroni, L., Lemmens, R., PerelloĢ, J., Ponti, M., Samson, R., ... Wagenknecht, K. (2021). The Science of Citizen Science. Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58278-4
Librarian Educator
Nova Scotia Hospital, Central Zone
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