Citizen Science: Is It Good Science?

Citizen science projects, which entail scientific work undertaken by members of the public, have increased substantially over last three decades. However, credibility such has been questioned, especially with respect to its prospects for producing peer-reviewed publications, principal means is communicated and validated. We conducted a meta-analysis 895 citizen projects launched between 1890 2018. Three-quarters (674) did not produce single paper. The remaining 221 produced 2075 although just five accounted nearly half publications. average time from project launch first publication was 9.15 years. Projects in health medicine astronomy were most likely biology (65.8% all projects), computer science, social sciences least publish their results. In conclusion, “science” element largely irrelevant as it never validated or communicated. propose reclassifying into two types: (i) Science, where focus on participants essentially function sampling devices; (ii) Engagement, value lies more engagement than does science.