Citizen science as an instrument of science communication: analysis of Russian practice

Abstract

Citizen science is a practice of participation of volunteers without special education in research projects. Projects in this area are an integral part of the scientific culture of many countries. Citizen science allows scientists to engage assistants for solving routine tasks and allows volunteers to feel attached to scientific research. Citizen science is also able to build loyalty to science and the academic community among a wide audience and recruit young and talented people. In addition citizen science can be an effective tool for science communication. Сitizen science has widely disseminated with the advent of computer and Internet technologies. However in Russia despite the rich history of popularization of science citizen science-projects are not so popular. The concept “citizen science” does not even have a full-value Russian-language term-analogue. The article is devoted to the analysis of the causes and consequences of low representation of citizen science in Russia. The article uses the methods of survey, Internet audit and expert interview. It is shown that the development of citizen science constitutes many theoretical problems. Besides the practice of citizen science is poorly developed in Russia and scientists have difficulties with recruiting volunteers for their studies.