abstract: 'Transparent, open, and reproducible research is still far from routine,

  and the full potential of open science has not yet been realized.

  Crowdsourcing-defined as the usage of a flexible open call to a

  heterogeneous group of individuals to recruit volunteers for a task -is

  an emerging scientific model that encourages larger and more outwardly

  transparent collaborations. While crowdsourcing, particularly through

  citizen- or community-based science, has been increasing over the last

  decade in ecological research, it remains infrequently used as a means

  of generating scientific knowledge in comparison to more traditional

  approaches. We explored a new implementation of crowdsourcing by using

  an open call on social media to assess its utility to address

  fundamental ecological questions. We specifically focused on pervasive

  challenges in predicting, mitigating, and understanding the consequences

  of disturbances. In this paper, we briefly review open science concepts

  and their benefits, and then focus on the new methods we used to

  generate a scientific publication. We share our approach, lessons

  learned, and potential pathways forward for expanding open science. Our

  model is based on the beliefs that social media can be a powerful tool

  for idea generation and that open collaborative writing processes can

  enhance scientific outcomes. We structured the project in five phases:

  (1) draft idea generation, (2) leadership team recruitment and project

  development, (3) open collaborator recruitment via social media, (4)

  iterative paper development, and (5) final editing, authorship

  assignment, and submission by the leadership team. We observed benefits

  including: facilitating connections between unusual networks of

  scientists, providing opportunities for early career and

  underrepresented groups of scientists, and rapid knowledge exchange that

  generated multidisciplinary ideas. We also identified areas for

  improvement, highlighting biases in the individuals that self-selected

  participation and acknowledging remaining barriers to contributing new

  or incompletely formed ideas into a public document. While shifting

  scientific paradigms to completely open science is a long-term process,

  our hope in publishing this work is to encourage others to build upon

  and improve our efforts in new and creative ways.'
affiliation: 'Graham, EB (Corresponding Author), Pacific Northwest Natl Lab, Richland,
  WA 99352 USA.

  Graham, EB (Corresponding Author), Washington State Univ, Sch Biol Sci, Pullman,
  WA 99164 USA.

  Graham, Emily B., Pacific Northwest Natl Lab, Richland, WA 99352 USA.

  Graham, Emily B., Washington State Univ, Sch Biol Sci, Pullman, WA 99164 USA.

  Smith, A. Peyton, Texas A\&M Univ, Dept Soil \& Crop Sci, College Stn, TX 77843
  USA.'
article-number: '588894'
author: Graham, Emily B. and Smith, A. Peyton
author-email: emily.graham@pnnl.gov
author_list:
- family: Graham
  given: Emily B.
- family: Smith
  given: A. Peyton
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.3389/fevo.2021.588894
files: []
issn: 2296-701X
journal: FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
keywords: FAIR; ICON; disturbance; open science; Twitter; open innovation (OI)
keywords-plus: CITIZEN-SCIENCE; PSYCHOLOGY; REPLICATION; FUTURE; TOOL
language: English
month: NOV 11
number-of-cited-references: '85'
papis_id: 0752b72a3311daa14856e91778d01a38
ref: Graham2021crowdsourcingglobal
times-cited: '0'
title: Crowdsourcing Global Perspectives in Ecology Using Social Media
type: Article
unique-id: WOS:000725623600001
usage-count-last-180-days: '0'
usage-count-since-2013: '8'
volume: '9'
web-of-science-categories: Ecology
year: '2021'