Citizen science involves public engagement in scientific research activities, where citizens actively contribute to science with their intellectual effort, surrounding knowledge, or their tools and resources (Socientize Consortium, 2013). This approach promotes public engagement across various crucial phases of the research cycle, including conceptualization, data collection, knowledge translation, and evaluation. Despite its popularity in the sciences, there is little guidance on how to use this approach within mental health research.
Todowede and colleagues (2023) conducted a systematic review to investigate the use of citizen science in mental health research. The review aimed to examine the views of researchers and citizen science contributors, identify ethical and legal issues in this research approach, and develop best practice guidelines for future citizen science projects in mental health.
The review used a comprehensive search strategy to identify eligible studies. Documents that reported on citizen science as a research approach to engage public contributors in mental health-related research were included, and a thematic analysis was performed using the ten European citizen science association principles as an initial framework. The review incorporated 9 articles across various study designs, all carried out in high-income countries.
The review found that citizen scientists were involved as contributors providing or collecting data or completing tasks for the research project. All included projects achieved the goal of a genuine scientific outcome, with most studies involving citizen scientists in data collection and analysis. Both citizen and professional scientists recognized multiple benefits of citizen science, including improvements in mental health and quality of life. However, challenges and ethical issues were identified, and the review recommended best practice guidelines for conducting and reporting mental health citizen science research.
The review was rigorously conducted, and the authors provided best practice guidelines for conducting and reporting mental health citizen science research. This guidance includes recommendations for involving people with lived experience of mental health issues in research, planning for the benefits of citizen scientists, providing feedback, ensuring data protection and legal and ethical considerations, and acknowledging the contributions of citizen scientists in research projects.
