What's in a name? The paradox of citizen science and community science

Citizen science has expanded the geosciences by making possible studies across greater spatial and temporal scales while incorporating local expertise and interests that might otherwise be overlooked. Broadly, citizen science involves members of the public in the process of science and has increased public engagement in science. However, it continues to struggle to engage diverse participants. Citizen science project coordinators are increasingly trying to promote inclusivity by rebranding as "community science" to avoid the term "citizen." Rebranding efforts, while well-intentioned, are uninformed by research, as we lack an evidenced-based understanding of these terms. Conversations on rebranding have taken place in opinion pieces and commentaries preventing practitioners from making evidence-based decisions on how to describe their projects. To address this need, we distributed a survey to those involved in citizen and community science programs. We found that survey respondents perceived differences between citizen and community science regarding how well-known and accepted they were, their perceived inclusivity, and whose goals the project was addressing. The term citizen science was perceived to be more well-known and accepted than community science both by others (Χ2(1) = 58.025, p < 0.001, ϕ = 0.831) and by the individuals taking the survey (Χ2(1) = 34.000, p < 0.001, ϕ = 1.000; Figure 1.A). Community science, on the other hand, was perceived to be more inclusive (Χ2(1) = 86.508, p < 0.001, ϕ = 0.825; Figure 1.F). Finally, community science was perceived to be initiated by communities to address their goals, while citizen science was perceived to be initiated by scientists to address research-related goals (Χ2(1) = 41.921, p < 0.001, ϕ = 0.816; Figure 1.C). Despite these seemingly opposite perceptions, citizen science was most commonly described as an umbrella term encompassing community science. Our findings reveal a paradox within the field of citizen science in which project leaders rebranding initiatives suggest that the terms are synonymous, while their perceptions indicate that they are different. Furthermore, these findings have important implications for those involved in citizen and community science seeking to better describe projects and promote inclusivity in the future.