Call for Abstracts Impact Assessment and Evaluation

CITIZEN SCIENCE: THEORY AND PRACTICE

Special Collection: 

Impact Assessment and Evaluation

CITIZEN SCIENCE: THEORY AND PRACTICE

Call for Abstracts

Issue editors: Stephen Parkinson^1,2, Luigi Ceccaroni¹, Maina Muniafu³, James Sprinks¹, Uta Wehn^4,5

1. Earthwatch Europe, Oxford, UK
2. University of Nottingham, UK
3. USIU-Africa, Nairobi, Kenya
4. IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Netherlands
5. CWTS Leiden University, Netherlands

Citizen Science: Theory and Practice is an open-access, peer-reviewed journal providing a central space for cross-disciplinary, scholarly exchanges aimed at advancing the field of citizen science by providing a venue for citizen science researchers and practitioners to share best practices in conceiving, developing, implementing, evaluating, and sustaining projects that facilitate public participation in scientific endeavors in any discipline.

ISSUE OVERVIEW:

Many citizen science initiatives are designed to create impact, often engaging participants based on these anticipated outcomes. Many of these initiatives also attempt assessing or evaluating their impacts. Impact evaluation entails causal inquiry into actual changes, whereas impact assessment is the systematic identification, predication and management of broad-scale impacts that extend beyond immediate outputs and which encompass long-term changes. Demonstrating impact remains challenging, especially results which: (i) extend beyond project timelines; (ii) encompass unforeseen impacts (positive and negative); and (iii) span across societal, scientific, governance, economic, and environmental domains. This special collection brings together current best-practices in citizen science impact assessment and explores the future of impact assessment and evaluation within the field. 

From small grassroots initiatives to large-scale projects and programmes, many citizen science initiatives attempt impact assessment or evaluation of some kind. Reflecting this diversity, articles from a wide range of contexts will be welcomed including different purposes of impact assessment, disciplinary backgrounds, and epistemological positions. The emphasis is on approaches with broad applicability or a clear theoretical contribution, avoiding purely descriptive case studies. Of particular interest are interdisciplinary perspectives, examples from underrepresented regions and communities, and co-evaluation practices (involving citizen scientists in the evaluation process). This special collection will showcase a variety of methodological approaches, from complex frameworks to simple tools, and include both qualitative and quantitative methods. The aim is to create an accessible entry-point for practitioners interested in the current state of the art in citizen science impact assessment and evaluation.

We will consider articles across a wide variety of topics relevant to impact assessment and citizen science. Examples of topics include, but are not limited to:

• Co-evaluation practices: methods for engaging citizen scientists in the impact assessment process.
• Impact assessment or evaluation in underrepresented contexts: including appraisal of cultural relevance and inclusion, and challenges for impact assessment in these contexts.
• Methodological innovations: including appraisal of long-term or systemic impacts of citizen science, or comparing impacts across initiatives.
• Practical guidance for small-scale initiatives: including simple, adaptable impact assessment or evaluation tools for specific purposes.
• Interdisciplinary methods: including application of impact assessment or evaluation approaches from other disciplines to a citizen science context.
• Institutional or policy-level impact assessment: assessing how multiple citizen science initiatives influence wider programmes and governance aspects.

ARTICLE TYPES:

We welcome articles in the following CSTP submission categories:

• Research articles
• Synthesis articles
• Essay articles
• Case Studies: Application and Integration

Articles of all types must clearly describe how they contribute to advancing the theory and/or practice of citizen science.

Contributions from underrepresented areas in the academic literature on citizen science are particularly welcome. This includes underrepresented geographic areas, research topics, or involved populations.

DEADLINES:

Call for abstracts: 21 August 2025

Closing date for abstracts: abstracts will be accepted up until 31 October 2025 (the original deadline was 17 October)

Notification of accepted abstracts: 10 November  2025

Invited paper submissions: 13 February 2026

LOGISTICS:

All abstracts should be submitted by email to Stephen Parkinson: sparkinson@earthwatch.org.uk

In your email, please include the following: article type, title, author(s), affiliation(s), abstract (250 word limit).

All invited manuscripts should be submitted into the journal’s management systems for Citizen Science: Theory and Practice.

Please review in advance the journal’s scope, author guidelines, and information on publication fees at: http://theoryandpractice.citizenscienceassociation.org 

If you have any questions about this special collection, please contact Stephen Parkinson: sparkinson@earthwatch.org.uk