Frequently asked questions

For Crowdfight Members and Scientific Advisors

Read this section if you want to join Crowdfight.

What does it mean to be a Crowdfight member?

You will join a community devoted to make science more collaborative. Crowdfight members have different roles, basically divided in two groups:

Collaborate with other scientists when you have the right expertise.
Help other scientists find suitable collaborators.

When you sign up you will be able to choose your involvement in each of these tasks, and you can also choose to only contribute to research linked to certain challenges (covid-19, other diseases, etc.). Depending on your participation level you will unlock different roles, from scientific advisor to coordinator or core team member.

Why should I join?

To improve science. Scientists should help each other more often. With the right organization, we can make science more collaborative, less lonely and more efficient.
To make contacts. You will get opportunities to help a colleague with a task in which you are an expert. In our experience, this is a much more effective networking strategy than mingling in conference coffee breaks.
To start lasting collaborations. If you want, you will also receive requests from scientists looking for long-term collaborators.
To gain perspective. You will see the needs of the community, and will witness how they are met.
To be recognized. Every single contribution is documented, from the advisor who dedicates 30 seconds to recommend a suitable expert, to the expert who dedicates three hours to give advice. We are developing a suite of tools to maximize the recognition of your participation, tailored to each situation and preserving your privacy as much as you want. These include optional public profiles, certificates, and reference letters, among others.
To get help. By joining us, you will get the opportunity to request help for your research.

How does this work?

We accept requests from scientists who need help with specific tasks or are looking for long term collaborators. We will send you those that fall near your field of expertise. You can then help the requester (if you are qualified and available), recommend a colleague who can help the requester (if you know one), or help find a suitable expert.

How often will I receive requests?

You will be able to choose the frequency. A typical situation is to receive one email per week, advise on one request per month (this takes a few minutes), and interact directly with a requester once every few months (this usually takes a couple of hours).

Can I be liable for anything? What if I make a mistake?

No, you’re not liable. You will advise the requester in good will, with no responsibility (unless you explicitly reach a different agreement with the requester).

Can I get a certificate for my participation?

Certainly, and more than just a certificate! One of our priorities is to credit every contribution. We will keep a faithful record of all your activity, and we will provide different flexible ways to credit you for it. These include personal certificates, reports of successful requests, letters of reference, and more; we will be happy to provide certification of your participation in any format you need.

I’m not a scientist. Can I still sign up?

Yes, you can fill in the form and sign up. Some tasks may require volunteers with non-scientific skills.

Do I need to commit?

No. You can contribute as much or as little as you want.

I have another question

You can ask us directly at contact@crowdfightcovid19.org

For Requesters

Read this section if you want to make a request.

What do you offer?

We will locate an expert in any field you need, and will put you in contact with them, so that they can help you via videoconference, e-mail or any other means.

What kind of requests can I make?

The main rule is that you must be looking for an expert with a concrete skill or resource that you don’t have. Then, we have two main types:

Quick and high value

These take only a few hours from the expert, and benefit you greatly. For example:

Protocols and advice: An expert will send you an experimental protocol, and/or will walk you through the steps via videoconference, and/or will be available to answer your questions as you execute it.
Technical assistance on statistics, theory or computation: An expert will discuss your difficulty via videoconference. In some cases, they may be able to review your code or share some code with you.
Discussion of ideas and hypotheses: An expert will discuss your idea with you, pointing to any literature they know that may have explored the same idea, and discussing its weaknesses and strengths.
Reagents: You can request specific reagents, provided that they are difficult to find commercially, they are cheap to produce for the donor laboratory, and you cover the shipping expenses.
Purchase advice: If you are planning to buy a specific equipment, an expert who is already using it can inform you about its performance.

Long-term

These are long-term collaborations, which usually involve co-authorship with the expert.

Who can use this service?

Any scientist. Scientists at any career stage can make a request, but they must be affiliated to an active research lab within a professional scientific institution.

Do I need to be a P.I. to use this service?

No. Whatever your level, you can make a request. You only need to belong to an active research laboratory in a professional scientific or academic institution.

Do I need to explain the background/aim of the task I’m proposing?

No. You can tell us about it if you think it helps, but there is no need. Just tell us the specific need you have, and we’ll look for the right expert for it.

I belong to a for-profit institution or company. Can I still use this service?

Possibly. Write us to contact@crowdfight.org, and we’ll figure it out.

My data are confidential. Is that a problem?

Not for us. Just let us know if you send us any confidential information. Most of the interaction will be directly with the expert, and at that point you should discuss any confidentiality issues.

Do you have any policy about how the outcome of the research must be handled (open access publications, patents, etc.)?

No, and that’s not for us to say. The research is 100% yours.

What kind of experts can I request?

Any kind whatsoever. We are particularly focused on fostering cross-disciplinary collaborations, so you can request the help from an expert in any discipline.

Do I have to pay?

No.

I’m a student and need help with coursework. Can I use this service?

No. This service is only for scientists doing professional work.

How should I credit the expert and Crowdfight?

For brief collaborations (those that only require a couple of hours from the expert), it’s usually enough to mention the expert in the acknowledgments of eventual papers. For long-term collaborations, the usual rules of scientific collaborations apply (with co-authorship when appropriate).

How should I credit Crowdfight?

We will appreciate to be mentioned in the acknowledgments of eventual papers. For example, you can use the sentence “The authors acknowledge the help of name_of_expert, contacted through Crowdfight (https://crowdfight.org)”.

Will my name be made public?

Only if you want. We usually document every request publicly, but we only disclose the requester’s institution. In some cases we give publicity to papers and other results of our requests, but we will always ask for your permission beforehand.

What if a brief collaboration becomes a long-term one?

That’s great, and we love when it happens! Just make sure to agree the terms of the collaboration with the expert. And please, keep us updated!

I’m still not sure if my request is appropriate. What should I do?

Make the request anyway, and explain your doubts. We will tell you whether we can handle it or not.

How long does it take to process a request?

You should get our first answer within hours, including a feasibility estimate. For brief interactions, we aim to get you in touch with the expert within 48 hours. For long-term collaborations, we may be a bit slower (~1 week).

Who are you, and why do you do this?

Crowdfight is a non-profit, run by volunteer scientists and engineers. We started to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, and we are doing this because we believe that it will benefit science and will make scientists’ lives easier. While most of the team members are scientists, Crowdfight is independent of our institutions.

I have another question

You can reach us at contact@crowdfight.org

Experts

Read this if you have received an email from us inviting you to act as expert.

What are you asking exactly?

To dedicate a bit of time (usually less than an hour, although it depends on the case) to help a scientist. In most cases, this means exchanging some emails to answer questions or holding a videoconference. Other examples include shipping a reagent (at no cost for you), reviewing a document or piece of code, sharing a document, etc.

Why should I help?

First, to help science and the community. We carefully select requests that greatly help the requester while minimizing the effort from you. Second, there are some direct benefits:

Recognition: You have been contacted because our scientific advisors consider you an expert in the topic of the request. This fact, and your contribution, will be documented to credit you for it.
Networking: You will meet a scientist and discuss a concrete scientific question. We prefer that to talking about the weather in a conference coffee break.
Potential collaborations: Some cases become long-term collaborations between requester and expert, and we have seen several papers co-authored by them.

What about co-authorship in papers?

If the collaboration with the requester becomes long-term, co-authorship may be a good idea (and in our experience requesters are more than happy to offer it). This is to be discussed between you and the requester; we can facilitate this discussion if you want, but we have no say in the matter. On our side, Crowdfight will never demand any retribution or credit (although we do appreciate being mentioned in acknowledgments).

Is anyone making money with this?

No. We are a non-profit, funded through grants and donations; our service is free.

What is Crowdfight?

You can learn more about us here.

How did you find me?

One of our scientific advisors (most of whom are active scientists) studied the request and recommended you as a suitable expert. Then, the coordinator (also a scientist) reviewed and approved the recommendation and contacted you. We only contact one carefully selected expert for each request.

If I accept, when and how should I help the requester?

As soon as you accept we will put you in contact with the requester via email, and from that point, you will discuss directly how to proceed. While we need a quick response to accept or decline our invitation, the actual interaction with the requester is usually not urgent (otherwise, we’ll specify it in the invitation email).

I’m not quite sure if I can help the requester. What should I do?

The preferred option is that you accept the invitation anyway. You will then discuss directly with the requester, and will figure out if you can help. If you can’t, we will contact an alternative expert (and will still be very grateful for your effort). Alternatively, you can respond to the invitation email and let the coordinator know about your doubts.

Can I get a certificate for my participation?

I have another question

Please, don’t hesitate to ask! You can simply respond the email you received, or you can reach us at contact@crowdfight.org