Civic Science Literature Maps

The Civic Science Literature Maps (CivicSciLitMaps) aims to help researchers and practitioners navigate the connections between the fast-growing literature on informal STEM learning, science communication, science outreach, science engagement, science policy, participatory science, and other forms of civic science by tracking the network of citations. You can access our growing library below and the citation map we are developing.

Our main CivicSciLitMap below showcases articles we have found loosely categorized in the main areas of civic science areas (public engagement (inclusive of scicomm), science policy, informal science education, science journalism, participatory (formerly citizen) science based on the abstracts. Articles traversing multiple domains are labeled as mixed.

The Litmaps platform uses algorithms that trace citations and references from these primary nodes, branching out to include additional relevant articles that cite or are cited by the initial publications. It’s neither perfect nor meant to be exhaustive, but it provides a different way to look at the landscape.

Each node on the map represents a publication, while the lines connecting the nodes indicate citation relationships where available. Users can click on individual nodes to access more detailed information about each publication, including abstracts, citation counts, and links to full texts where available. The map is a work in progress and designed to support researchers, educators, and practitioners in civic science. Please note that non-English publications are currently not included.