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Short Abstract

Bridging the citizen science and policymaking gap requires effective communication. A systematic review of environmental citizen science articles revealed research often fail to address policy implications, few make strategic recommendations, and scientists rarely outline policy impacts achieved.

Abstract

Bridging the gap between citizen science data and effective policymaking necessitates timely and efficient communication. While citizen science initiatives generate valuable environmental data, findings and reports produced by scientists are infrequently accessed or read by policymakers. This disconnect limits the potential of citizen science to positively influence policy development and environmental governance.

In an ongoing systematic search of 9,277 articles from Web of Science and Scopus databases on environmental citizen science and policymaking, it was noted that a studies often did not explicitly address policy implications. Many failed to connect their findings to the practical needs of policymakers, few offered strategic recommendations, and only rarely did studies report direct policy impacts.

Based on these preliminary findings, we hypothesise that: (1) environmental citizen science studies that explicitly discuss policy implications are more likely to influence policymaking; (2) studies offering strategic recommendations have greater potential for policy uptake; and (3) studies that report actual or potential policy impacts are more effective in bridging the science–policy gap. We also hypothesise that collaborative approaches—where scientists and citizens co-produce knowledge and frame results with policy relevance—are most likely to generate actionable guidance and measurable policy influence.

This analysis aims to discover what communication strategies within citizen science research can strengthen the pathway from data generation to policy implementation, thus improving the uptake of evidence generated by the citizen science research community.