Guest Post by Dominic Allington-Smith (Open Access Publications Manager)

UCL Discovery, UCL’s institutional repository, has hit another milestone! UCL Publications Board and the Open Access Team are excited to share that on Friday 18 July, the number of downloads reached the 60 million mark. UCL Discovery is UCL’s open access repository, showcasing and providing access to UCL research outputs from all UCL disciplines. UCL authors currently deposit around 1,100 outputs in the repository every month (average figure for the current academic year).

The 60 millionth download was of the interim report ‘Young people & coastal communities: Local policymaker and practitioner perspectives’ produced by the UCL Coastal Youth Life Chances project led by Professor Avril Keating.  This research project examines how growing up in coastal communities in England impacts the life chances of young people. The report arises from the project team’s conversations with 50 policymakers and practitioners from around England about their perspectives on the challenges facing young adults aged 15-20.

At the time of writing, UCL Discovery hosts over 193,200 open access publications, comprising mostly self-archived copies of research outputs, but also including doctoral and research master’s theses (contemporary submissions and historic digitisations), and books published by UCL Press.  Since the 50 million downloads milestone in June 2024, the following titles are the highest-downloaded publications for each UCL Faculty, Institute or School. This list continues to reflect the diversity across UCL research:

• Faculty of Arts and Humanities: Цифровые гуманитарные науки Хрестоматия / Digital humanities: in search of definitions (book, 2017)
• Faculty of Laws: Artificial Intelligence, Education and Assessment at UCL Laws: Current Thinking and Next Steps for the UK Legal Education Sector (working/discussion paper, 2025)
• School of Slavonic and Eastern European Studies: The Gesta Hungarorum of Anonymus, the Anonymous Notary of King Béla: A Translation (journal article, 2009)*
• Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences: The Responsibility of Intellectuals: Reflections by Noam Chomsky and others after 50 years (UCL Press book, 2019)
• Faculty of the Built Environment (Bartlett): Space Syntax: Selected papers by Bill Hillier (UCL Press book, 2025)
• Faculty of Engineering Sciences: Mastering the game of Go without human knowledge (journal article, 2017)
• Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences: The Traditional Four Steps Transportation Modeling Using a Simplified Transport Network: A Case Study of Dhaka City, Bangladesh (journal article, 2012)*
• Faculty of Brain Sciences: What is mentalization? The concept and its foundations in developmental research (book chapter, 2012)*
• Faculty of Life Sciences: FIP Global Pharmacy Workforce Report 2012 (report, 2012)
• Faculty of Medical Sciences: Textbook of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (UCL Press book, 2016)*
• Faculty of Population Health Sciences: Global, regional, and national burden of stroke and its risk factors, 1990-2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 (journal article, 2021)
• Institute of Education: Intelligence Unleashed: An argument for AI in Education (report, 2016)

* These publications are also the highest-downloaded of all time.

Hitting 60 million downloads highlights the reach and potential which comes from sharing research through UCL Discovery. There are a number of ways you can do this, primarily through sharing your research publications via UCL RPS and Profiles. You might also want to consider sharing other types of outputs such as data, code and software to further enhance the visibility and reproducibility of your work. UCL’s Research Data Management team maintain a guide on best practice for software sustainability, preservation and sharing, and can give further support to UCL researchers as required.

Another year of sharing research, and another incredible milestone – congratulations to everyone involved! Let’s keep it up and continue pursuing open access at UCL to ensure we are reaching the widest audience and having the greatest impact.

 

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Guest post by Sheetal Saujani, Citizen Science Coordinator in the Office for Open Science & Scholarship

Citizen Science, where members of the public contribute to academic research, is reshaping how we do research. It opens new possibilities for data collection, community engagement, and impact, and at UCL, it’s increasingly seen as a key part of open and inclusive research.

In this post, we explore some of the platforms that make Citizen Science possible, including iNaturalist, and share insights from Professor Muki Haklay’s (UCL Extreme Citizen Science) blog to inspire UCL researchers to get involved.

Why Citizen Science platforms matter

Citizen Science platforms aren’t just bits of technology – they are powerful tools for bringing people and research together. They help researchers:

• Collect data on a large scale, across different locations and time periods
• Work with diverse communities in ways that feel meaningful
• Enhance the impact of their research by opening it up to the public
• Recognise and include lived experience and local knowledge as valuable data

Citizen Science platforms make it easy for anyone to take part by connecting researchers with thousands (or even millions) of contributors. Whether it’s identifying wildlife, tracking pollution, or classifying stars, Citizen Science tools make it easy for anyone to take part.

But not every platform fits every project. It’s worth considering how easy it is to use, the quality of the data, ethical considerations, and how long the platform can be supported. It’s great that there are now a wide range of tools out there to support different research areas.

Popular platforms to explore

Here are a few Citizen Science platforms worth considering:

1. Zooniverse – a platform for crowdsourced data analysis in fields ranging from climate science to history.
2. Cochrane Crowd – global community classifying health research to support systematic reviews, open to all with no prior expertise needed.
3. SciStarter – a hub connecting volunteers to projects across science, health, and the environment.
4. GLOBE Observer – a NASA app for environmental monitoring including cloud cover and mosquito habitats.

Many of these tools are open source or open access, which aligns with UCL’s Open Science approach to research.

Spotlight on iNaturalist

iNaturalist is one of the world’s leading Citizen Science platforms, built to help people record and share observations of biodiversity. With over 150 million contributions, it reflects the core values of open Citizen Science: it’s user-friendly, community-driven, and open in its data policies.

If you’re interested in tracking urban wildlife, exploring plant ecology, or examining environmental change, iNaturalist offers:

• Community-powered species ID: observations are confirmed by a global network of experts and enthusiasts.
• Open data integration: verified sightings feed directly into the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), supporting research and conservation worldwide.
• Educational value: a powerful tool for learning about local ecosystems, supporting outreach, and involving the public in meaningful fieldwork.

For UCL researchers in ecology, conservation, education, or public engagement, iNaturalist offers a ready-made platform for collaborative projects, supporting both academic outcomes and community impact.

Reflections on iNaturalist from Prof. Muki Haklay

At the CAPS25 conference, iNaturalist’s Executive Director, Scott Loarie, delivered the opening keynote sharing five key lessons from the platform’s 17-year evolution – from an MSc project to a global biodiversity tool.

In a follow-up blog post, Professor Muki Haklay (UCL Extreme Citizen Science) reflects on these insights, highlighting iNaturalist’s focus on a pressing challenge: documenting species before they disappear. With one in three species at risk, the platform’s mission is urgent.

Prof. Haklay praises iNaturalist for making participation fun and not too complicated, empowering people to contribute meaningfully – from spotting rare birds to discovering new butterflies. He also emphasises the social side of Citizen Science, where events like the City Nature Challenge become global celebrations of biodiversity.

He describes iNaturalist as “a new kind of scientific instrument” – open, scalable, and powered by AI. Millions of photos help track species distribution, detect invasive spread, and even reveal behavioural patterns. AI/computer vision is “providing a new journey,” he notes, with tools that link images to DNA and uncover new species.

For UCL researchers, Prof. Haklay’s reflections remind us to think beyond data collection. How can we design Citizen Science that’s inclusive, engaging, and makes a difference in the world?

Next steps

Citizen Science can enhance public engagement, enable large-scale data collection, and support the co-production of knowledge – especially when linked with Open Science values. To get started:

• Choose a platform that fits your research needs
• Pilot a small-scale activity or join an existing project
• Reflect on inclusion, ethics, and sustainability from the outset
• Connect with UCL’s Citizen Science community for guidance and support

Let’s collaborate

Have you used a Citizen Science platform in your research or teaching? Or are you just getting started and curious about the possibilities?

Platforms like iNaturalist show how Citizen Science can be rigorous, inclusive and impactful – offering new ways to collaborate, engage communities and produce knowledge. As UCL advances its Open Science agenda, now is a great time to consider how Citizen Science can enhance your work across disciplines.

The UCL Office for Open Science & Scholarship is here to support you. Our Citizen Science Support and Training resources include guidance on integrating Citizen Science into your projects, information on key platforms, and our favourite Citizen Science initiatives from around the world. You can also explore the Principles of Citizen Science at UCL to shape your approach from the outset.

Whether you’re starting a project or exploring ideas, we’d love to hear from you. Visit the UCL Citizen Science website to learn more – and let’s work together to make research more open, inclusive, and collaborative.

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