Overview

• The study, published July 28 in BioScience, is the first to systematically assess how iNaturalist data are used in scientific research.
• Over the past five years, peer-reviewed studies using iNaturalist observations have increased tenfold, mirroring the platform’s rapid data growth.
• iNaturalist now hosts more than 200 million observations submitted by over 3 million contributors in 128 countries covering 638 taxonomic groups.
• Community-vetted “Research Grade” entries are shared with the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and are used by agencies including the IUCN for species status evaluations.
• The platform’s rich image database has enabled case studies such as the rediscovery of a century-lost Vietnamese snail and detailed analyses of species behavior and coloration.