Data validation in citizen science: a case study from Project FeederWatch

To become more widely accepted as a valuable research tool, citizen-science projects must find ways to ensure that data gathered by large numbers of people with varying levels of expertise are of consistently high quality. Here, we describe a data validation protocol developed for Project FeederWatch, a continent-wide bird monitoring program, that is designed to increase researchers’ and participants’ confidence in the data being collected.

Bonter, D. N., and C. B. Cooper. 2012. Data validation in citizen science: A case study from Project FeederWatch. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 10:305307. doi.org/10.1890/110273