Section outline

  • Course description

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    This is a high-level, 1 hour 45 minutes course introducing the ethical imperative for conducting citizen science as open science, including what open science is and how its outputs and processes can be incorporated into all aspects of citizen science.

    The primary audience are citizen science practitioners such as those already managing a project or starting a new one. However, no prior knowledge about open science is assumed, and anyone with an interest in open science is encouraged to take this course.

    After completing this module, you will be able to:

    • Describe the ethical, scientific, social, and legal imperatives for practising open science
    • Clarify common misconceptions about open science (e.g. it is not just about publishing data)
    • Describe the products of open science and the collaborative and inclusive processes they enable
    • Identify which aspects of open science you could implement in your current or future citizen science projects
    • Evaluate and choose tools to implement open science for all components of your citizen science project including text, images, data, software, hardware, and other media

    Click here to enrol in this course and use enrolment key OpenCitSci to do so. Once you enrol you will be able to take quizzes and receive a badge upon successful course completion.

  • Welcome and Introduction (~5 mins)

    Start here!

    • Welcome to the course! Page
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      Welcome to this course on doing citizen science as open science! Here, we introduce what you can expect to learn in this course, as well as a little information about the creators.

    • Reflect on open science Quiz

      Before we begin, take a moment to reflect on your current understanding of the course topic. We will revisit your response later in the course.


  • 1. What is open science and why should you do it? (~12 mins)

    If you ask 10 people what open science means, you may get 10 different answers. Before going into the processes and outputs of open science, it is important to reflect on the motivations for doing open science and introduce some definitions.

  • 2. The basics of publishing your open science outputs (~18 mins)

    In this section we provide instructions and best practice advice on how to publish your scientific outputs. We several specific examples, but remember this information applies to other types of outputs too.

    • Good practices to enable sharing and reuse Page
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      Some advice and tips on how to facilitate sharing and reuse of your work.

    • Where to publish scientific outputs? Page
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      We've covered some best practices for sharing your work, but where should you share those files?

    • What about sensitive data? Page
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      If you work with sensitive data, here's what you need to consider before sharing your work.
    • Publishing papers Page
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      Publishing papers with Open Access is integral to doing open science.

    • Section 2 review activity Quiz

      Reflect and test your knowledge on the information you learnt in this section.

  • 3. Open science outputs: software and hardware (~15 mins)

    Software and hardware are increasingly integral to running a citizen science project. This section provides an overview of the types of relevant software and hardware outputs from citizen science. It will also outline the tools to help publish the research and development lifecycle for software and hardware. 


    • What are open source software and hardware? Page
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      And why are they integral to open science?

    • Publishing software Page
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      Software is integral, sometimes in subtle ways, to many citizen science projects. It is worth being familiar with the ways to publish it as open science.

    • What about hardware? Page
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      Best practices for publishing software also applies to hardware. But on top of that, there are a number of international standards that you should try to adopt when developing your hardware.

    • Section 3 review activity Quiz

      Reflect and test your knowledge on the information you learnt in this section.

  • 4. Reuse, remix, and legal considerations (~20 mins)

    In this section we dispel common misconceptions regarding permissions for reuse of published material, and why it matters to citizen science and open science. We provide a basic summary of key legal concepts for open science (e.g. copyright), introduce the use of open licenses that enable sharing and reuse and give some citizen science examples.


  • 5. Open science processes – Where citizen science shines (~23 mins)

    Much of what citizen science does are examples of open science processes. This is where citizen science can set an example for open science practitioners.


  • Summary and self-assessment (~12 mins)

    Overview of topics covered and final quiz for completion badge.

    • Course summary Interactive Content
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    • Check-in and food for thought Page
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      Reflect back on your original thoughts before starting the course, and leave with some food for thought.

    • End of course quiz
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      Receive a grade
      Receive a passing grade
      By achieving a mark of 50% or above in this quiz, you'll receive a badge for completing this course.

  • Further information

    Please look here for more information and resources.

    • Further information Page
      There are additional, useful resources that did not fit in the course.

  • Sources and acknowledgements

    Details references cited, plus the archived "source code" of this course. Many thanks to all who supported our work!