Services

If you (or your unit) have an idea for a project, or would like a dialogue about whether Citizen Science is relevant for your research, the Knowledge Center offers various services to SDU researchers:

• Dialogue on project development
• Dialogue on writing project descriptions
• Workshops or talks on Citizen Science in your field of research

If your project has been given seed money from the Knowledge Center, we can help you with:

• Managing and coordinating your project
• Recruiting and keeping participants
• Communication and how to involve citizens

On this page you can read more about Citizen Science. Citizen Science is often carried out in “communities”. At the Knowledge Center, we build, maintain, and carry out the dialogue with them, working with the researchers on the project. On this site you can find various guides to help you with troubleshooting.

You are very welcome to contact the secretary of the Center, Dorthe Søndergaard Andersen citizenscience@sdu.dk - tel. 6550 2648.

1. Grant applications

The Knowledge Center has an annual amount of seed money, in which each faculty can place a minor amount earmarked for new projects or the development of projects. The money will typically be given to projects which intend to use Citizen Science on a minor scale and apply later for money from to a larger fund or perhaps join a Horizon Europe project. Seed money is granted by the individual faculty members in the Knowledge Center’s Steering Committee (the deans), with the emphasis on interdisciplinary projects. When seed money is granted, the Center can offer help with project management and communication, etc.

SDU researchers can also apply for external funding for Citizen Science:

• Nordea Fonden
• Villum fonden
• Carlsbergfondet
• Danmarks Frie Forskningsfond
• HORIZON-WIDERA-2021-ERA-01-60: A capacity-building and brokering network to make citizen science an integral part of the European Research Area
• HORIZON-WIDERA-2021-ERA-01-61: Supporting and giving recognition to citizen science in the European Research Area

The Knowledge Center has an ongoing dialogue with various researcher support units at the faculties to support applications within the field. SDU RIO also offers advice, support, and guidance about Horizon Europe, in which Citizen Science is a part of various programme areas.

2. Literature on Citizen Science

In SDUB’s guide to Citizen Science you can find definitions of Citizen Science, get inspiration for how citizens, researchers, or libraries can start a project, and see examples of SDU Citizen Science projects. The guide has links to articles, books, reports, films, web resources, and organizations relevant to Citizen Science.

The guide can help you get started on a project or task. If you are a researcher and need a literature review which can help to connect your area of research with Citizen Science, please contact Thomas Kaarsted, thk@bib.sdu.dk.

 

3. Partnerships

The template below is a tool to help you identify potential partners and interested parties for Citizen Science projects.

If you would like to discuss your ideas on this, you are welcome to contact us. We can offer advice, but not practical help. Please contact Thomas Kaarsted thk@bib.sdu.dk or mobile phone 6011 2623.

If you are a researcher and consider using Citizen Science as a method, it may be important for you to consider relevant partners who represent groups of citizens, the civil society, authorities, or sectors, which will have an interest in contributing to or participating in Citizen Science.

Such partners need an incentive, and these may have many different characters. At SDU, we have worked with and collected data in dialogue with NGOs (which looked for knowledge created in common), schools and high schools (which wanted to participate in research-based teaching), private companies (which wanted to investigate sustainable recycling and business models), etc.

As a starting point for identifying potential partners, the Knowledge Center uses this model, which can be understood as a stakeholder analysis.

4. Project management

The text below explains how to organize, manage, and wind up a Citizen Science project.

If you need further dialogue, please contact us. We can offer advice, but not practical help. Contact Thomas Kaarsted thk@bib.sdu.dk or mobile phone 6011 2623.

Step by step guide: Project plan

By Line Laursen, information specialist, SDU Library, linel@bib.sdu.dk

Thomas Kaarsted, deputy library director, SDU Library, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6796-5753, thk@bib.sdu.dk 

 

This project plan is a generic guide on how to run the practical side of a Citizen Science project with regards to planning and governance. It is based on the condition that a researcher or Principal Investigator (PI) leads the project. Assisting the PI is a Project Manager (PM), who is responsible for practicalities in close dialogue with the PI. The role of the PM is sometimes defined as Community Manager, based on the scope and communication within the project. Library staff in many ways are suited for the role as PM or project coordinator.

 

It’s important that this generic plan is supplemented with e.g. a GANNT chart for organizational and time managing purposes, as well as other helpful tools such as a stakeholder analysis [link], a communication plan [link] and a risk analysis [see below]. In some cases, the project plan cannot be outlined until funding is applied for and awarded. This guide does not cover that. Furthermore, if you are venturing in a multi-partner or EU project, this guide is hardly sufficient. It does also not take into account citizen-led or -initiated projects.

The project plan

Work on a Citizen Science project can roughly be divided into three phases. The BEFORE (step 1-5) where the project is initiated, and planning is carried out. The DURING (step 6-9) where the project goes public. The AFTER (step 10) where evaluation, analysis, scientific outcome, and communication to and with participants is carried out.

BEFORE

Step 1: Definition of goal(s)

The overall outcome of the project is defined. This should provide a clear picture of what the researcher wants to investigate, who has an interest in participating and the goal(s) of the project. At this point, common ground is laid between the PI and PM in a dialogue with indispensable stakeholders. Which research objective or perhaps question is covered? The overall goals could be e.g.

• What is the research objective? How will it be investigated or expanded?
• The central elements with regards to public engagement and data collection: What is the motivation and outcome for citizens and potential partners Already at this point consider: What's in it for the citizens?
• Internal goal setting: Aligning the goals and roles between PI, PM, administration, possible partners, and citizens

Step 2: Stakeholder analysis

In order to operationalize the objective and goals, a stakeholder analysis could be carried out. We suggest this template [link (bottom of doc)] in order to identify stakeholders and possible partners. Stakeholders can be very varied depending on the project and cover institutions, organizations, groups, or individuals that could have an interest or stake in the outcome or goals of the project. Stakeholders could also be researchers, peers, students or pupils (in which case the project could have a learning component).

 

After identifying stakeholders, a dialogue is established, and stakeholders are onboarded. They should help form the project and outline their role. In this phase, ‘must be’ stakeholders who are critical for the outcome of the project are identified.

 

Citizens, of course, are at the core of every Citizen Science project. The steps above focus on organized groups or institutions that represent other citizens. This is not to marginalize the individual, but to suggest a structured approach. Individuals are also reached through the communication plan [link].

Step 3: Project timeline and milestones

Once the outcome and stakeholders are onboard, the project timeline is defined. We recommend that the PI and PM spend a fair amount of time on a realistic and detailed plan that covers the main deliveries and assess the needed resources. A definition of the tasks and milestones (main deliveries) enables the PM to work based on a critical overview. A detailed timeline should include target dates and identifying risks. As mentioned above, a GANNT chart could be recommended.

Step 4: Assess resources and costs 

Once the timeline is complete it’s possible to create an overview of the resources and costs needed. Almost all projects come to fruition after a potential lengthy application and budget process. Otherwise, the budget is outlined by the PI and PM in unison. By resources we mean both human and monetary.

• Human: Researchers, research assistants, student help, communication, data management, visualization of data, it-infrastructure, and administration.
• Monetary: The cost of recruiting citizens, conducting workshops, town hall meetings, building apps, boosting via social media, producing video, buying equipment, tools, as well as travel costs etc.

 

With regards to human resources are the right competences present? Who does what? Occasionally, communication and community management are underestimated, leaving motivation and thus potentially data and outcome in jeopardy. This is one of the things to be addressed in the risk assessment analysis (step 5). At this point, it’s important to address which target group or groups the project aims at as this is critical for assessing risk vs. outcome with regards to resources. Communication also comes as a premium. No later than this step, a communication plan [link] is devised. A data management plan [link] to overview resources needed for handling data and possible ethical and legal advice should be drafted. You might also explore if the project could be evaluated by learning outcome or science literacy [link]. In case pupils or students participate this might be worth considering.

 

INFOBOX/Example: In the SDU Citizen Science project ‘Find a lake’ (see also communication plan) citizens including public schools and high schools) contribute to assistant professor Sara Egemose’s research into water quality by providing water samples and other data. From a resource standpoint the project relies on:

• The human resources include a main researcher (PI), a research assistant (community manager), students that do advocacy, a former teacher for didactic and communication purposes, an associated professor in charge of evaluation (science literacy), an IT-consultant in charge of the app, and a project manager, coordinator and web manager who also does visualization of data.
• The monetary costs focus mainly on citizen science kits for education and data collection purposes. The target group is kids and their families. Costs are also allocated for pop up events, camps and other equipment.

Step 5: Risk analysis checklist

Risk analysis can help manage the potential problems and uncertainties in a Citizen Science project, including, where the lack of skills or resources could become a problem. The analysis should be done in each phase of the project. There are a vast number of risk analysis matrices, templates and models readily available online. Very few, however, address research projects let alone Citizen Science projects.

 

Below you’ll find some observations and tips that can help structure your thinking. Risk, in this sense, is not meant as danger. It does not, e.g., address unsupervised kids collecting data in a particular environment (although this is certainly a risk). The risk analyses should optimally be carried by the PI and PM together with staff with knowledge and insights in their specialist areas.

 

1)  Brainstorm on potential troublesome areas. Every area should be included. From research outcome to data collection, to communication, retention and recruitment of citizens, to ethics, GDPR etc. Ask yourself: What could go wrong in this particular area?

2)  What are the potential negative consequences? When the areas are identified, rate them on a scale from 1-5, where 5 is a risk that potentially can shut down the project.

3)  How likely are the risks to happen? Again, rated from 1-5, where 5 is inevitable. 

4)  Multiply the numbers and you’ll end up with a list of potential risks rated from 1-25. Again, a score of 25 might close the project.

5)  Make a prioritized list. Which risks should be on the project's risk list?

6)  How do you handle the risks? Some can be prevented. Then, they go off the list. Others can be remedied, and a Plan B can be ready at hand.

7)  Make a ‘go’ or ‘no go’ decision, the PI and PM in unison.

 

This list is meant for inspiration. If you work with, for instance, IT-heavy projects or have data collection with potentially huge GDPR or legal ramifications, your university might be able to advise.

 

The risk assessment might cause a revision of the project plan (aim, goals, partners, roles and timeline). This is also discussed in step 6.

DURING

Step 6: Recruitment and retainment

For the research and public engagement side of the project to run as smoothly as possible, support from stakeholders and participants are critical. There are several ways to obtain that, but include both groups early in the conversation and co-creation by inviting to:

• Workshops and dialogue meetings
• Social media communities
• Info meetings
• Kick-off meetings
• Collect suggestions and discuss terminology and research objectives.

Again, dialogue is critical which is also at the core of the communication plan [link]. Get ideas, feedback, do post-its sessions, identify possible barriers and potential boosters. Be open and transparent on how you can communicate and include participants and stakeholders in activities, data collection and discussing the results. And where you cannot. The actors in a Citizen Science project very often have insights, experiences and connections into local communities, which are of high value.

 

INFOBOX/Example: In the SDU Citizen Science project ‘Our History’, high school students interview elderly citizens on their life experiences with a focus on the changes in the family as an institution, work/life values and socio-economic themes. The project was originally conceived by Professor Klaus Petersen and three students from the SDU Talent Programme. Very early the project reached out to high schools in the region to establish partners. During various steps, a plan to embed the project in the curriculum was conceived. Similarly, the project (via the university library) built a digital learning platform that teachers and students envision will make them capable of conducting interviews in a semi-structured scientific way. Finally, besides the interviews themselves, the students will participate in a poster session where they reflect on the results. The point: It took several steps or loops to design the project with the aim of recruiting and retaining participants. In the end, all interviews are available online.

Step 7: Follow up, momentum and communication

When the project partners agree on the project plan, it is distributed to all stakeholders and communicated to participants. In this phase, the communication plan kicks in. Including the ongoing collection, communication and sharing of data.

 

Depending on the type of project and the complexity concerning partners and stakeholders, status meetings must be held. The should as a minimum include the PI, PM, and key members of the project team. If a steering committee of stakeholders are formed, they are included as well.

Status meetings are for knowledge sharing, for boosting outreach and data collection, and potentially for discussing the milestones and revising the goals. These meetings should provide clear answers to whether the project is progressing as planned. An idea is to take stock of deliverables:

• what is planned for the next 2-4 weeks?
• are there any critical deliverables?
• identify possible delays or non-deliverables due to lack of resources

Step 8: Revision of the project plan

A logical consequence of the follow-up meetings may be revision of the project plan. Just as the partners and participants are visited and revisited, the idea is to establish a cycle where the plan is evaluated. Working with Citizen Science can be highly motivating and rewarding for both the PI, PM and the project team (and citizens as well). Nevertheless, a potentially large number of partners and elements of co-creation might distort the focus, timeline and goals, thus causing unpredictability. This can potentially cause stress, missed deadlines and demotivation in the team as well as lack of communication with partners.

AFTER

Step 9: Completion of the project

When the project period has ended or if the goals are met, the PI would want to end the project. In some projects, the co-analysis with participants are discussed or shared with decision makers within the field. In other projects, the PI and the research team analyse the data. In some cases, this might take months, but results should still be communicated with participants and data shared as openly as possible. Stakeholders and participants joined the project for a reason. Has the project created some kind of change? Could results influence a change in policy? Did it provide citizens and the research community with new insights?

Upon completion, there might also be a financial wrap and a report to various grant providers. An evaluation based on reach or learning outcomes, such as science literacy, would be completed. In conclusion, the collection of materials, kits and communication materials are done. Some Citizen Science projects are ongoing and the materials recycled, therefore, resources to secure documentation of the project and its data should be allocated.

Since projects might be repeated (or converged into new projects), it’s recommended to do a memory log with members of the project teams. This can be quite simple, e.g., as a brainstorm. Name five successes or things to repeat. Name five failures or changes if the project were to be conducted again.

Stakeholder matrix

When engaging in a Citizen Science project, collaboration and dialogue with citizens is at a premium. But which citizens to engage? Filling out a stakeholder matrix is a useful structured approach to answer this question. The key is that citizens can be reached or included in groups or via institutions from civil society, private sector, government or the education system. Once stakeholders are identified, they might go into the communication plan [link] as target groups.

 

5. Communication in a Citizen Science project

The text below explains how communication may be integrated in CS projects as an integral element. If you would like to discuss it with us, you are welcome to contact us. We can offer advice, but not practical help. Please contact

• Lotte Thing Rasmussen, journalist, The University of Southern Denmark, ltr@bib.sdu.dk 65502625
• Thomas Kaarsted, Deputy Library Director, The University of Southern Denmark, thk@bib.sdu.dk 65502623

  Attached documents:

• Template for shaping your plan of communication
• Template for communication log

  
  Guide: plan for communication

  Communication is a constant, integrated element in Citizen Science projects. When you plan to start a CS project as a researcher or project manager, it is crucial to have a plan for how to communicate to citizens, and perhaps journalists as well, during your research process.

  It will be worth your while to spend time on integrating good and precise communication:

• it can improve both the quality and quantity of your data sets
• it can help maintain the motivation of the involved citizens
• the impact of positive coverage in the media and on SoMe for you and your project can be measured via Altmetrics
• it makes obvious the advantages of research projects which are useful and relevant for citizens and society
• attention and many participants will improve your chances of getting funding

   

  Citizen Science and communication: in dialogue

  In projects that involve citizens, as Citizen Science projects will always do, we consider journalists as a part of the citizens from the start. Nevertheless, the following text is divided into two main parts which discuss how to carry out your initiatives for communicating your CS project, since you will communicate most advantageously with citizens and journalists in different ways:

• Communicating with and to citizens

  First of all, the relevant citizens must be identified, contacted, and recruited. This is the natural first phase in which they are to be 1) engaged to participate in a CS project. Secondly, they are to be included in the project, in which they must become 2) part of a running dialogue about the research project, in which it is especially important to maintain their motivation. Below we will discuss potential strategies for this, including how your communication strategy and log can use digital media (SoMe, web, mail, or newsletters).
  

• Communicating with and to journalists
  You can try to involve the media in a similar way, by 1) engaging them in the project itself by having them follow it, get access to partial results, perhaps also data; and/or 2) having them as a part of the dialogue with the citizens, for instance by pitching individual stories from the project to journalists. We will discuss some of the potential ways of involving journalists/media houses in the project itself, and how to pitch individual stories most effectively.

  Engagement and dialogue are the two primary guiding lines for the communication which should be maintained between researcher/project on the one hand and citizens/journalists on the other. In your dialogue with citizens and journalists, you should try various approaches. It is a good idea to plan several ways of opening a dialogue.

  In the following, we will describe ways of structuring your approach, based on our knowledge about media, communication, and the press, but they are by no means the only right solution. Dialogue and communication involve human interaction, and will not necessarily follow even the best plans. If your experience or impression of the situation suggests a course of action, listen to yourself. The main thing is to plan small stops in the process, so that you will need to consider your communication, discuss it, and perhaps adapt it as you go on. Apart from writing this explicitly into your project plans, you can do it in these ways:
  
  

• Let one of the project participants be responsible for it
• Involve those at your institute who are responsible for communicating for specific purposes: tips on writing a good newsletter, help with the angles of press stories, etc.
• always keep it on your agenda at project meetings. Ideally the exact topic should be specified, so that “communication” will be followed by “web”, “SoMe”, “newsletter”, “poster”, “brainstorm about stories”, etc.
  

  Communicating to and with citizens

  The citizens involved in CS projects are not merely respondents. They are participants, who have been invited into a dialogue. Don’t neglect them once you have your data. Consider the data as communication, and plan to integrate them in your communication process as feedback, including how the collected data can be communicated and perhaps visualized during the process. In short: get back to the citizens.

  The process is reciprocal: they gave you something, so you give them something in return. The dialogue can be kept up during the process: you may ensure that the citizens can see what other participants report, so that they can follow the project (this will also increase their motivation), and the dialogue can be kept up, once the recruited citizens have delivered the contribution they agreed to make.

  
  Part I: Get the citizens engaged

  One part of creating engagement is answering the basic question “What is it we want?”. The purpose of the project should be defined precisely and specifically when you are trying to engage the citizens. Seen from their point of view, the question should be, “What is in it for me?”. By having a plan for what is to be communicated between project and participants, and how and when, you can formulate clear expectations for and from everyone.

  This is where we use the template for shaping the communication strategy, at first to get citizens to engage themselves. The communication strategy can be considered a half-stakeholder, half-SWOT analysis, and the template is just a way to remember the most important elements which can be part of the initial description; depending on the character of the project, other and more elements can be relevant. Modify it until it fits your project.

1. Define your theme
   The main focus of any given CS project may be, but does not have to be, the same for all the citizens (the target group) who may be interested in participating. If you work out the themes for the selected target groups into sub-themes, it may show you a potential for communicating directly into various spheres of interest, as well as further relevant target groups which you can then address via various channels, highlighting different themes.
   

   The general work on the theme(s) should lead to concrete messages (stories, angles):
   
   

2. Communicate

   Consider your message. You don’t have to explain the whole project every time; but start from what you want from that particular citizen whose attention you want to catch. It may be relevant to elaborate on much of the project, but you should keep thinking about what parts of the knowledge the citizens will need or be interested in. What will not be relevant to them? Your project does not necessarily need its own website, but you should consider whether to have one digital presence for the project, which you can always refer people to, and which addresses the citizens. Here you can also place more elaborate background information intended for stakeholders (if you have any). Consider writing information and contact material which will function across various media. Short video spots, a clear visual identity, good pictures, perhaps pamphlets (printed and/or digital).
   
   

   The specification of themes and the following communication are intended to recruit participants:
   
   

3. Recruiting

   Meet your target group where they are. Attach relevant channels and/or media. These may be Facebook interest groups, contact mail for institutions, mailing lists, societies, newsletters, etc., where you can contribute a brief motivating article and explain how to join. Posters and/or postcards or small pamphlets which can be put up or placed in your local libraries, town hall, etc. may also be a good idea, but these will require graphical design, printing, and some leg work. The opportunity to speak briefly for about five or ten minutes at arrangements, classes, etc., has often turned out to be worth the effort.
   
   

4. Log your activity
   Logging who communicates what, to whom, and on which platforms, will help create an overview, history, and knowledge about which methods work best for collecting your type of data. The log will illustrate your progress (or lack of it) and yield data which can be integrated into the project if this is desirable. Tracked SoMe data can also be logged here.

   Template for communication log.

    

   Part II: Dialogue with and between the citizens
   When you have finished recruiting participants, you should keep your focus on continuing the dialogue. Continuing communication of familiar themes may help keep participants motivated; and continuing your log will give you data that will integrate the communication process into the research project as a method. Starting from the description above of using sub-themes, motivating, communicating, and keeping a log, your communication strategy and log can be continued with a focus on the following:

• Keeping up a dialogue with the involved citizens

  Use both social media and your own channels, such as your website, newsletter, etc., and invite the media to join your dialogue. When you have a dialogue with the citizens, it is important to be authentic. Examples of authentic communication: if the work on the data suddenly turns up something funny or surprising, the kind of thing you would tell your family at the dinner table – might that be worth sharing with your participants? Tell people about things that went wrong at first but were put right. Tell them about the analysis of the data they have contributed, or about something unexpected or funny in the data. Keep communicating in constant loops in an explicit way.
  
  

• Enabling a continuing dialogue between the involved citizens
  CS projects create a dialogue for the purpose of collecting data and creating results collectively. Don’t just see the process as a one-way communication from the project to the citizens, and their reporting back. It may make sense to create a possibility for the involved citizens to have a dialogue among themselves: there is a big potential for maintaining their motivation in having them meet around shared interests.
  
  
• In some Citizen Science projects the motivation can be strengthened if the participants can communicate with one another to discuss their data or their involvement. This kind of dialogue may sometimes lead to new insights, or even to new research questions.
  

  Communication for andwith journalists
  This second part will focus on citizens who are journalists. Right now, the journalistic media are in a period of transition. Many are testing new business models and would like to work with new connections. As a part of this, many Danish media are experimenting with (comparatively) new genres of journalism, such as constructive journalism (see below); and many media with local or regional coverage are including elements of citizen journalism. This means that there may be an increased interest in trying out new concepts and new kinds of collaborations. Journalists and/or media houses may be invited to join your project and become downright partners in it.

  Though this kind of partnership can give you a common agenda, you should always remember when working with the media that they may decline to publish a story at any time. Their values are those of reportage, and these are not always compatible with research work. The two things belong to different traditions. To get the best results, your matching of expectations should be made in an atmosphere of mutual respect and open dialogue.

  Journalists and the press media are the channels through which information can be broadcast widely at all relevant points during a given CS project, both when you recruit your participants, and when you communicate back to the participants and other citizens about your results so far, intermediary conclusions, and other interesting observations; and not least, it is a site for the dialogue between journalists and participating citizens, e.g., as cases, where the citizens tell their stories. It is not unlike planning your direct communication with the citizens, but there are differences.

  Constructive journalism
  Citizen Science will often work well together with constructive or solution-oriented journalism, since this genre is not just concerned with reporting problems, it wants to help solve them. Basically, constructive journalism is founded on three principles: solutions, nuances, and dialogue. In this kind of journalism, the media often consider themselves facilitators rather than “traditional” media, and this creates a potential for researchers and media to define a common rationale and identify and solve a social problem together.

  Read more about constructive journalism: https://constructiveinstitute.org/what/  at Aarhus University’s Constructive Institute https://constructiveinstitute.org/.

  Part I: Get the media engaged

  It would hardly make sense for every type of CS research project to aim at partnership with the media. Even if you want to involve the media, you may not succeed. But such a cooperation can have great advantages which may make it well worth the effort. For instance, a journalistic treatment of the message(s) of the project may improve your chances of capturing the target group you aim for, the media can disseminate the message of the project to a wide audience, and they know how to follow data and may also deliver input to the project.

  If you wish to or ask to get media involved in more extensive cooperation:

  1) Get in touch with the managers of the medium in question. This may be the editor for a specific topic area where your project belongs, or the editor-in-chief. Prepare these things beforehand:

  2) Write a layman’s summary from a specific angle which describes your project (see below on “The perfect pitch”) and look through your communication strategy for the project to identify appropriate messages. Tailor them to the profile of the medium you have in mind.

  3) Identify any common agendas. There may be groups of citizens that both you and the medium are interested in reaching and engaging.

  4) Identify an important problem which speaks to a current agenda in society or is part of the relevant medium’s public service commitment. Can your project, or parts of it, help solve a current problem or dilemma in society?

  The CS Knowledge Center can advise you on this dialogue, as we have many years of experience of working with media partners. Since 2017 the CS Knowledge Center has established partnership contracts with DR, TV2 Fyn, TV Syd, Jysk/Fynske Medier and Videnskab.dk.

  Part II: Your dialogue with journalists
  In this part, we will discuss the more conventional tools which can be employed to get the media interested in a particular story. If you have a media partner, you can use this to find themes and angles. If not, you can use it for individual stories which may be a good fit for reporting in journalistic media.

  In the following, we will describe how to pitch a story to the press: Offering an angle on a topic including, when possible, suggested sources, background info, etc., which you “make a present of” to a journalist in the hope that they will take it up and treat it journalistically. It might be called ”press release” instead of ”pitch”, but the pitch is a broader genre which is better at covering quirky, funny, or surprising stories on various scales, while a press release is more official, often covering what “a new study shows” or new appointments of professors, etc.

  It can feel frustrating to spend time on a pitch and get nothing out of it, because the journalist did not use the story. On the other hand, if the story is accepted, it may result in good, trustworthy news coverage and a big audience. Your log will document your efforts, including the failed ones, and may show you what kind of story works best, after you have tried out various approaches.

  In the following we present a kind of practical list of things to consider, so that you can get close to how a journalist works (and thinks).

  The perfect pitch

  Journalistic media are very careful not to seem to advertise anything. Therefore, you should think about the classical criteria for what is news, and about constructive journalism. If you are not sure whether there may be an interest, you can consult the communications officer(s) at your institute and/or call a journalist or news editor to hear if they consider your news a story. Explain it briefly and concisely.

  When will your pitch be a good idea?

• A pitch can be a good idea when you have a story ready.
• It must fit into a couple of sentences: you should be able to explain your story to a colleague in one or at most two sentences. This holds true mainly if you intend it for the news media – media which work specifically with research stories, or some of the niche media, may well be interested in more elaborate or more nuanced stories, but your story will still need to be catchy, so it should still be possible to give the gist of it very briefly.

• Don’t do this:

  - Don’t oversell your story. Be trustworthy. Not every story is Breaking News, and yours does not have to be. But it must be substantial.

• Don’t use clickbait-style approaches with a pitch that turns out not to be correct. It is a good thing to think of your angle and a sentence that resembles a headline, but don’t overdo it.
• Don’t sell an old piece of news. If it has already been partly published elsewhere, you should mention this.
• Don’t go shopping around for journalists or editors. Trust them to consider your story.
• Don’t call people to follow up, unless you have agreed on this.
  

  What should be in your pitch?

• Write your message in the main body of your mail. Don’t attach files, unless they contain analyses, more detailed materials, etc. which will be interesting to the journalist. Other such materials may be pictures, videos, etc. If you don’t have pictures, but the story calls for a visual supplement, you may add suggestions for photo-ops, it you have any good ones.
• Write the most important words in the title field. Don’t call your mail “press release”, mention what your story is about.
• Formal requirements:
  - Contact details for the sender

  - Available sources. As the sender, you must coordinate them, so that they will be present and know that they have been named as a contact, etc. Make sure that the sources know what is in the press release before you send it. It is a good idea to add a short description to each source: what does A or B know most about, are they cases or background sources, etc.
  - It is a good idea to have fact-boxes and things like that. Break the content up into shorter units, especially if it is heavy content.
  - Data from your analysis, e.g., three important points.
  - Clauses, if they apply – if there is an embargo on when the content can be published.

  - Make it explicit if you send your story only to them, or if you send it to other media as well. Be open about it.

  When do you send a pitch?

  Look at the agendas of the main news/debates stream – can you attach your story to anything here? You can also look at the database Infomedia (access via SDUB) and search for your topic – has it been mentioned recently? Will your pitch make a new contribution? This may also be used to alter your text to make it fit with the general news stream about the topic.

  It may be a good idea to phone somebody at the medium before you send your mail. Prepare a short, precise explanation, and keep a mail ready to be sent immediately after the conversation, perhaps altered to fit what the journalist said, if s/he expressed an interest in a particular aspect. Don’t call again afterwards: if they decide to use your story, you or your sources will hear from them.

  To whom do you send your pitch?
  With the general media you can see whether your story is of local, regional, national, or international interest. Apart from them, there are numerous media targeting specific topics or niches, as well as various web media, which may be relevant for you. The database Infomedia can be searched for potentially relevant national media.

  The big media probably have a specific person appointed to be responsible for the news each day of the week. You can ask for that person via the main phone number. Or you can find the name and number of a specific journalist and call or mail them directly. If the topic has already been covered in the media, you can find the name of the journalists who wrote about it. When you pitch an individual story, it is often best to get in touch with a journalist (not an editor) directly.

  SDU Via Ritzau
  SDU is a customer of Via Ritzau, see https://via.ritzau.dk/nyhedsrum/syddansk-universitet/s?publisherId=12056383. Here selected press releases from SDU are placed, and the various subscribers of Via Ritzau, such as media houses, journalists, public officials, private actors and others, can access them. Press releases can also be shared on the SoMe pages of Via Ritzau, on Twitter and Facebook. Your story needs to have a certain weight to be eligible for this.

   

  6. Data Management plans
  The text below will discuss how to incorporate data management as an integrated element in a Citizen Science project, if the project collects and analyses data.

  If you need to discuss your project, you are welcome to contact us. We can offer advice, but not practical help. Contact:

• rdm-support@bib.sdu.dk

Attached documents/links:

• https://www.sdu.dk/en/bibliotek/forskere/research+data+management+support

 

In a Citizen Science project, citizens are often involved in collecting or processing data. In many projects, the participants themselves are the source of the research data which are to produce new knowledge. In these cases, it is particularly important to have control over all parts of the process in which you handle the data. The citizens will not be used to collecting data systematically or to handling them responsibly in such a way that they can be used for research.

This is a particularly good reason why you should have a data management plan, in which you describe the entire flow of data throughout the project: which methods are to be used for collecting data, which methods will be used for quality control and/or validation, where to store data, and how to publish or delete them.

You must also consider the legal aspects, especially GDPR, which will determine how the project is to be carried out. As in any other research project, SDU RIO must be notified about a CS project if it handles personal data in any way. This is still true if personal data are not collected directly for the purpose of research; if your method for collecting data means that any personal data are collected about the involved citizens, then SDU RIO must be notified about the project. This notification to SDU RIO is part of the general notification to Datatilsynet.

You must notify SDU RIO about your project before the collection of data begins, and this is also when you should write your first draft for a data management plan.

How to notify SDU RIO:

https://www.sdu.dk/da/forskning/service_til_forskere/juridiske_spoergsmaal/anmeldelse_til_datatilsynet

You can write your data management plan by using DMPonline: https://dmponline.deic.dk. There is a template for a DMP for a Horizon2020 project here: https://dmponline.deic.dk/template_export/1628428073.pdf

It is especially true in Citizen Science that the citizens who participate will expect a kind of feedback from the project. What were the results? How did I contribute? Where do “my” data fit in? This means that open data are important for the project. Where there are no restrictions on sharing data (such as GDPR), data should be accessible to everyone.

To make sure that data can be used again, you should follow the FAIR principles, at least part of the way. FAIR stands for Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Re-usable. You can make a good start by sharing data via a repository. Zenodo is a good example (https://zenodo.org/), which ensures that data can be retrieved and downloaded by others (always provided that there are no legal, ethical, or other barriers), and researchers can describe the data set and state on which conditions the data may be (re)used. If the data have been thoroughly described and are uploaded in a commonly used file format, they are, to a large extent, FAIR. It is not enough to share your data, they must be shared in the right way, so that they can be used again, in a legally and technically correct manner.

See more about FAIR principles in this video. The video is part of a brief course on research data, which you can find here: https://www.deic.dk/da/datamanagement/aktiviteter/rdm

Two important reference to end:

SDU Open Science Policy https://www.sdu.dk/en/bibliotek/forskere/research+data+management+support/the+sdu+open+science+policy

If you are wondering if your project is ethically sound and on track. Consider contacting:

https://www.sdu.dk/en/forskning/service_til_forskere/forskerstoette/ansvarlig+forskningspraksis/research+ethics+committee

7. Increasing scientific literacy with Citizen Science

Contributor: Berit Elisabeth Alving balving@bib.sdu.dk librarian at University Library of Southern Denmark, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4708-5000 , balving@bib.sdu.dk

 

Definition on Scientific Literacy

Scientific Literacy is knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts, processes, and methods, by being able to read and understand scientific literature and furthermore be able to give the ability to discuss and evaluate the origin and quality of scientific results and thus seek answers to scientific questions. The scientific literate citizen can distinguish science from pseudoscience.

 

 

Scientific Literacy and Citizen Science

Citizens who are scientific literate can contribute and collect data in a useful and qualified way in e.g. citizen science projects and can to a greater extent use scientific methods and make informed decisions. Some Citizen Science projects can even increase the participants’ scientific literacy, if projects contain elements of empowerment, inclusion, and motivation.
For citizens to acquire knowledge and thus, become more literate, the Citizen Science projects must be relevant and preferably related to the citizens’ local environment. Personal involvement and interests make people more motivated, and thus more likely to seek information. Effects of citizen science projects on scientific literacy could be better comprehension of scientific information and scientific processes and a change in attitudes towards science. The citizens may engage more in science or even consider science as a career.

 

Research libraries and scientific literacy

The libraries' mission to promote and provide tools and resources to master scientific information and information literacy, even scientific literacy, matches the citizen science projects, where citizens acquire scientific skills in observing, deriving, predicting, and making sense of collected data and observations. By connecting scientific researchers with scientific literate and eager citizens, the library becomes a channel for citizen science projects, as well as an intellectual hub. The library will be a place to access and use scientific information as well as to create and engage in scientific endeavours.

 

The University Library of Southern Denmark is a partner of citizen science projects and several of these involve pupils from elementary schools and high schools. In one project, “A Healthier Southern Denmark”, high school classes were involved and learned about health science and the library held a course in critical source reading as a supplement to the students’ curriculum. Another example from the university library is the project “Find a lake”, where elementary school pupils tested the quality of the water. The latter had a goal to educate the pupils to be responsible citizens through insight on humans’ impact on nature. The pupils were highly motivated, and the purpose of the projects was clear and relevant to them. Both projects and the educational material were a co-creation between the schools, the researchers, and the university library. The library acted as a link between the schools and the researchers.

 

 

References

Golumbic, Yaela N., Barak Fishbain, and Ayelet Baram-Tsabar. ‘Science literacy in action: understanding scientific data presented in a citizen science platform by non-expert adults’. International Journal of Science Education, Part B: 1-16, 2020. doi:10.1080/21548455.2020.1769877 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341777155_Science_literacy_in_action_understanding_scientific_data_presented_in_a_citizen_science_platform_by_non-expert_adults

 

Gormally, C., P. Brickman, and A. Lutz. ‘Developing a Test of Scientific Literacy Skills (TOSLS): Measuring Undergraduates' Evaluation of Scientific Information and Arguments’. Cbe-Life Sciences Education 11 (4): 364-377, 2012. https://www.lifescied.org/doi/10.1187/cbe.12-03-0026

 

Shaffer, J. F., J. Ferguson, and K. Denaro (2019) "Use of the Test of Scientific Literacy Skills Reveals That Fundamental Literacy Is an Important Contributor to Scientific Literacy." Cbe-Life Sciences Education 18 (3): 10. 10. doi:10.1187/cbe.18-12-0238

https://www.lifescied.org/doi/full/10.1187/cbe.18-12-0238

 

Examples on measuring Scientific literacy

To detect the citizens’ level of scientific literacy, it is useful to conduct a test in the beginning and at the end of a project, and thereby be able to evaluate the progression in scientific literacy. These tests are specifically useful when schools or educational institutions are involved. The citizen science projects can be part of or a supplement of their curriculum.  Below are examples from the Test of Scientific Literacy Skills (TOSLS) used for undergraduate students. In this test, they must organise, analyse, and interpret quantitative data and scientific information.

 

1.                   Which of the following is a valid scientific argument?

a.                   Measurements of sea level on the Gulf Coast taken this year are lower than normal; the average monthly measurements were almost 0.1 cm lower than normal in some areas. These facts prove that sea level rise is not a problem.

b.                   A strain of mice was genetically engineered to lack a certain gene, and the mice were unable to reproduce. Introduction of the gene back into the mutant mice restored their ability to reproduce. These facts indicate that the gene is essential for mouse reproduction.

c.                   A poll revealed that 34% of Americans believe that dinosaurs and early humans co-existed because fossil footprints of each species were found in the same location. This widespread belief is appropriate evidence to support the claim that humans did not evolve from ape ancestors.

d.                   This winter, the north-eastern US received record amounts of snowfall, and the average monthly temperatures were more than 2°F lower than normal in some areas. These facts indicate that climate change is occurring.

 

2.                   Researchers found that chronically stressed individuals have significantly higher blood pressure compared to individuals with little stress. Which graph would be most appropriate for displaying the mean (average) blood pressure scores for high-stress and low-stress groups of people?

 

 

Examples reprinted with permission from publisher and author. Gormally, C., P. Brickman, and A. Lutz. ‘Developing a Test of Scientific Literacy Skills (TOSLS): Measuring Undergraduates' Evaluation of Scientific Information and Arguments’. Cbe-Life Sciences Education 11 (4): 364-377, 2012. https://www.lifescied.org/doi/10.1187/cbe.12-03-0026