Crowdsourcing in medical research: theory and practice

The field of crowdsourcing for medicine has substantially expanded. We define crowdsourcing as an organization having a large group attempt to solve community problem, then share the solution with the broader public. Large groups of individuals can participate in medical research through open contests, hackathons, and related activities. The purpose of this literature review is to examine the definition, theory, and practice of crowdsourcing in medicine in order to facilitate crowdsourcing research. This multi-disciplinary review defines crowdsourcing for health, identifies theoretical antecedents (collective intelligence and open source models), and explores implications of the approach. Several critiques of crowdsourcing are also examined. Although several crowdsourcing definitions exist, there are two essential elements: (1) having a large group of individuals, including experts and non-experts, propose potential solutions; (2) sharing solutions with the public through implementation or open access materials. The public can be a central force in framing a common problem and developing feasible and compelling solutions. Crowdsourcing is related to, but distinct from other participatory research approaches. Crowdsourcing can be a useful for informing medical research, programs, and policy. A growing evidence base suggests that crowdsourcing in medicine can result in high-quality outcomes, broad community engagement, and more open science.