So-called citizen science has become a significant force in several scholarly disciplines. The phenomenon can be found in both the natural and the social sciences, according to the largest systematic analysis to date on the topic, the results of which are published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE. 'We see that in particular researchers in the natural sciences have collected and classified data with the help of interested volunteers. In the social sciences, there has been a focus on inviting select parts of the public to find out the effects of science on people's everyday lives. This may for example concern environment problems and risks,' says Christopher Kullenberg, researcher in the field of theory of science.

To make the study as broad as possible, the analysis included 2568 scientific articles based on citizen science. A feat that turned out to be quite a challenge, since researchers in different disciplines have referred to citizen science in many different ways.

'Since the mid-1990s, it has usually been called "citizen science". But the terms "participatory science", "crowd science", "civic science" and even "street science" are also frequently used,'says Dick Kasperowski, assistant professor of theory of science.

All these concepts imply active participation by the public in some part of the research process.

'What's exciting about citizen science is that it enables non-researchers to make important contributions to science. If you think about it, it sounds impossible. After all, don't you need years of training and experience to dothat?' says Kullenberg.

The fields of biology and ecology have a long tradition of citizen science.Researchers have for example relied on the public's ability to observe andclassify animals and plant species for over 100 years. This has clearly been very successful and enormous amounts of data have been collected, for exampleto identify the migration patterns of birds and other animals. Such studies areimportant in order to understand the ongoing changes in the climate. Citizen science has recently also gone digital. For example, astronomy researchers have benefitted greatly from having regular citizens classify uncountable pictures of galaxies.

1 systematic

adj.有系統(tǒng)的，有計劃的，有方法的

參考例句：

? The way he works isn't very systematic.他的工作不是很有條理。

?  The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.這個教師進行系統(tǒng)的教學工作。

2inviting

adj.誘人的，引人注目的

參考例句：

? An inviting smell of coffee wafted intothe room.一股誘人的咖啡香味飄進了房間。

? The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.這間廚房的味道溫暖誘人，使人感到親切溫馨。

3 feat

n.功績；武藝，技藝；adj.靈巧的，漂亮的，合適的

參考例句：

?  Man's first landing on the moon was afeat of great daring.人類首次登月是一個勇敢的壯舉。

?  He received a medal for his heroic feat.他因其英雄業(yè)績而獲得一枚勛章。

4 civic

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

參考例句：

? I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我認為投票選舉是我作為公民的義務。

? The civic leaders helped to forward theproject.市政府領導者協(xié)助促進工程的進展。

5 participation

n.參與，參加，分享

參考例句：

? Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔術要求有觀眾的參與。

? The scheme aims to encourage increase dparticipation in sporting activities.這個方案旨在鼓勵大眾更多地參與體育活動。

6migration

n.遷移，移居，（鳥類等的）遷徙

參考例句：

? Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季開始向南方遷移。

?  He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他詳細地描述了鳥的春季移居。

7 ongoing

adj.進行中的，前進的

參考例句：

? The problem is ongoing.這個問題尚未解決。

? The issues raised in the report relatedirectly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.報告中提出的問題與“關心老人”組織在這方面正在做的工作有直接的關系。

8 galaxies

星系( galaxy的名詞復數 )； 銀河系； 一群（杰出或著名的人物）

參考例句：

? Quasars are the highly energetic cores of distant galaxies. 類星體是遙遠星系的極為活躍的核心體。

?  We still don't know how many galaxies there are in the universe. 我們還不知道宇宙中有多少個星系。