The motivations of volunteers in citizen science.

Abstract

Millions of people worldwide spend their valuable time engaged in volunteering. Why? It all starts with the concept of motivation and therefore exploring motivations can provide some answers. Motivation is the reason for acting or behaving in a certain manner. Although all volunteers share a similar behaviour, freely giving their time without financial gain to the mutual benefit of the cause and themselves, they do not necessarily have the same motivations for doing so1. Why is it important to understand what motivates volunteers in citizen science? Because citizen science projects depend on their volunteers, understanding the motivations of volunteers can enhance recruitment, ensure good retention rates and ultimately make the citizen science project a success.