Welcome to the Ethics Working Group

The objectives of the Ethics Working Group are:

1. Chart the landscape of ethical issues across the spectrum of citizen science.
2. Increase the capacity of CSA to provide resources and training in ethics to practitioners and participants.
3. Develop mechanisms for CSA to support research ethics review.
4. Raise awareness among the greater research community about unique ethical challenges of citizen science and the need for training in ethics.

Some citizen scientists want to avoid reinventing the wheel, so they turn to the Ethics Working Group for tools that other scientists would access through their employers (e.g. open-licensed consent forms). To other citizen scientists, the Working Group is a community through which to share best practices for incorporating the ethical sensibilities of the general public into the design and review of research studies and facilities. Yet others count on the Working Group to mobilize against risks that proliferation of citizen science may require adjustments to current laws and/or ethics practices.