Members of the public participate in scientific research in many different contexts, stemming from traditions as varied as participatory action research and citizen science. Particularly in conservation and natural resource management contexts, where research often addresses complex social–ecological questions, the emphasis on and nature of this participation can significantly affect both the way that projects are designed and the outcomes that projects achieve. We review and integrate recent work in these and other fields, which has converged such that we propose the term public participation in scientific research (PPSR) to discuss initiatives from diverse fields and traditions. We describe three predominant models of PPSR and call upon case studies suggesting that—regardless of the research context—project outcomes are influenced by (1) the degree of public participation in the research process and (2) the quality of public participation as negotiated during project design. To illustrate relationships between the quality of participation and outcomes, we offer a framework that considers how scientific and public interests are negotiated for project design toward multiple, integrated goals. We suggest that this framework and models, used in tandem, can support deliberate design of PPSR efforts that will enhance their outcomes for scientific research, individual participants, and social–ecological systems

Since first being introduced in the mid 1990s, the term "citizen science"-the intentional engagement of the public in scientific research-has seen phenomenal growth as measured by the number of projects developed, people involved, and articles published. In addition to contributing to scientific knowledge, many citizen science projects attempt to achieve learning outcomes among their participants, however, little guidance is available for practitioners regarding the types of learning that can be supported through citizen science or the measuring of learning outcomes. This study provides empirical data to understand how intended learning outcomes first described by the informal science education field have been employed and measured within the citizen science field. We also present a framework for describing learning outcomes that should help citizen science practitioners, researchers, and evaluators in designing projects and in studying and evaluating their impacts. This is a first step in building evaluation capacity across the field of citizen science.

Skill-based outcomes play a prominent role in citizen science experiences as they are situated directly between the dual, intertwining goals of advancing science learning and science research. Regular and transparent assessment of volunteers’ science inquiry skills can support these goals, but we lack a comprehensive understanding of how these skills are assessed. To address this gap, we collected data from citizen science project leaders through questionnaires, interviews and a systematic literature review. Findings demonstrated that most projects targeted a narrow range of skills that centered on data collection. About half of questionnaire and interview respondents stated that they assess science inquiry skills, but many relied on informal or indirect methods such as observations and conversations lacking protocols. Less than a third of these respondents and only 13% of reviewed articles administered formal assessments of skills, such as tests and performance measures based on volunteers’ submitted data. Challenges associated with skill assessment included lack of time, staff, expertise, funding and supporting resources. Overall, our study provides clear evidence of the limited breadth and assessment of skills targeted within citizen science, and points to the need for resources that promote and expand the use of assessment addressing science inquiry skills.