2023-02-27

Debate on citizen science and research integrity

On 23 February 2023, a remote event “Lay People’s Voice: How to Hear It with Integrity?” was organised by the Research Council of Lithuania and the Office of the Ombudsperson for Academic Ethics and Procedures of the Republic of Lithuania. During the event, the experiences of the implemented projects in the field of citizen science and research integrity and research ethics were shared by Stefanie Schuerz, PRO-Ethics project coordinator, Dr Eglė Butkevičienė, Professor at Kaunas University of Technology, and Dr Birutė Liekė, Senior Specialist (Senior Analyst) of the Office.

During the event, Ms Schuerz presented the PRO-Ethics project experience in addressing ethical challenges in citizen engagement in research. Prof. Dr E. Butkevičienė shared practical advice based on the experience of the citizen science project and presented the recommendations of the CS4Welfare project funded by the Research Council of Lithuania. Dr B. Liekė presented the Guidelines for Research Ethics and Research Integrity in Citizen Science drawn up by the Bridge project. During the discussion that followed the presentations, the speakers shared their insights on what should be the first consideration in citizen science research in terms of ethics, how to ensure a balance between practical flexibility and research ethics in such research, how the interdisciplinarity which is often typical of citizen science influences research ethics, etc.