Cfp – Public participation in science/ Participación pública en la ciencia

About this special section
Science is moving towards new participatory ways of generating knowledge that integrate different perspectives and forms of knowledge that can help better understand global challenges, improve decision-making, and strengthen democracies (Monzón-Alvarado et al., 2020). Citizen science is one of the many forms of public participation in the production of scientific knowledge in which citizens get involved in different ways (through knowledge, tools or resources) (Socientize Project, 2013).

The multiple benefits of this methodology include the democratization of science, increased public participation (scientific literacy), the generation of new knowledge, the expansion of researchers’ capabilities or the increase in geographic reach, among others. (Conrad; Hilchey, 2011; West; Pateman, 2017).

Previous studies also show an increase in the number of projects, as well as publications (Pelacho et al., 2020). Despite all these benefits and its potential application in multiple areas of knowledge (Conrad; Hilchey, 2011; Jordan Raddick et al., 2013; Sullivan et al., 2014; Tauginienė et al., 2020), there is still a lot of uncertainty regarding to the collection (and quality) of data, the level of participation and ethical issues (invisibility of citizens), among others (Ali et al., 2019; Conrad; Hilchey, 2011, Elliott; Rosenberg, 2019; Kullenberg; Kasperowski, 2016), as well as its contribution to science.

From the perspective of information sciences, most previous studies have analyzed the results of research (scientific articles) in science (Bautista-Puig et al., 2019; Kullenberg; Kasperowski, 2016; Pelacho et al., 2020) or it is approached from the perspective of communication (Sierra-Caballero, F., 2022) and, mostly, from a top-down perspective, for example, on how various scientific investigations include this type of research, as well as its characteristics. (themes, etc.). However, little is known from a bottom-up perspective (for example, the level of citizen involvement in science, gratitude, outputs generated, etc.).

Through this special section, we want to analyze the potential of citizen science in the progress of science. We are interested in receiving articles from all disciplines (and interdisciplinary) that illustrate through case studies how citizen science contributes at different levels (local, regional, national or international). We also invite contributions that describe the potential role of the different agents involved (scientists, citizens), as well as contributions that show the link of citizen science and its integration/complementarity with other types of data sources.

Topics
The topics for this special section are the following (but not limited):

-Transdisciplinarity
-Co-creation/Co-design
-Collaboration between different actors
-Level of citizen involvement
-Public participation in science
-Research results

Submission of manuscripts
EPI is a 100% OA journal that is funded by charging APCs (article processing charges). In 2024 the cost of APC is GBP 2,000

Submit your article through the OJS journal management platform at:
https://revista.profesionaldelainformacion.com/index.php/EPI/submissions

Important for authors
If you are not yet registered as an author, do it here:
https://revista.profesionaldelainformacion.com/index.php/EPI/user/register

New:
Publisher
Since January 2024, Profesional de la Información is published by Oxbridge Publishing House, UK.

New:
Language
The articles of Profesional de la Información are published either in English or in Spanish, to be chosen by the author.

New:
References format
Authors must submit the bibliography in APA format.

Evaluation
All articles published in EPI are double-blind peer reviewed by two or more members of the journal’s International Scientific Council, and other reviewers, always external to the Editorial.

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