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SciStarter Affiliates

Through SciStarter Affiliate projects, volunteers gain recognition for their contributions, and scientists extend their reach and amplify their research impact.

Welcome to SciStarter Affiliates!

SciStarter Affiliate projects are projects that share participation data with SciStarter.
This allows your contributions to be reflected in your SciStarter Dashboard—immediately or within 24 hours.

For citizen scientists:

  • To get started, sign up or log in to SciStarter, explore Affiliate projects, and follow the instructions on each project page to connect your SciStarter account so your participation is credited (more details below).
  • No scientific, contribution-related, or personal data is shared with SciStarter.

For Project Leaders:

  • Projects can connect through the SciStarter Participant API or other available methods, which makes integration quick and easy.
  • If you manage a project, becoming a SciStarter Affiliate helps you reach more participants, amplify your impact, and allow volunteers to earn credit for their contributions.
  • Affiliates may also be featured in SciStarter’s collaborations with partners an in our monthly newsletters.
  • You can learn more about our Affiliate program here.

Same Email Sign-Up

How it works: If you use the same email address to register on both SciStarter and the Affiliate project, SciStarter automatically matches your participation to your Dashboard.

Example projects: Neureka, Stall Catchers, Eterna.

OAuth / Internal Authorization

How it works: Some projects allow you to directly authorize SciStarter to link your accounts. When you log in or sign up, you’ll be asked to connect your SciStarter account via a one-time, secure authorization process.

Example projects: Budburst, NASA GLOBE Observer, CoCoRaHS.

Username Matching

How it works: Once you enter your username from another platform (such as iNaturalist or Zooniverse) in your SciStarter profile, you’ll automatically receive credit for all your contributions from that platform — across all its affiliate projects — in your SciStarter Dashboard.

Example projects: iNaturalist and Zooniverse.

SciStarter-Based Forms

How it works: Some projects use forms built directly within SciStarter. When you submit observations or data through these forms, your contributions are automatically logged and credited in your Dashboard.

Example projects: Project Squirrel, The Great Sunflower Project.

Email Reporting

How it works: Some projects verify your participation through the email address you use on SciStarter. When submitting data on the project’s website, you simply enter your SciStarter email address in the form. The project then uses that information to credit your contribution in your SciStarter Dashboard.

Example project: Globe at Night.