Towards an integrated crowdsourcing definition

• Published in: Journal of information science Vol. 38; no. 2; pp. 189 - 200
• Main Authors: Estellés-Arolas, Enrique, González-Ladrón-de-Guevara, Fernando
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01-04-2012; Sage Publications; Bowker-Saur Ltd
• Subjects: Blurring; Crowdsourcing; Definitions; Exact sciences and technology; Information and communication sciences; Information science. Documentation; Internet; Library and information science. General aspects; Sciences and techniques of general use; Studies; Theories, definitions and sources in information science; innovation; definition; crowdsourcing
• ISSN: 0165-5515; 1741-6485
• DOI: 10.1177/0165551512437638

‘Crowdsourcing’ is a relatively recent concept that encompasses many practices. This diversity leads to the blurring of the limits of crowdsourcing that may be identified virtually with any type of internet-based collaborative activity, such as co-creation or user innovation. Varying definitions of crowdsourcing exist, and therefore some authors present certain specific examples of crowdsourcing as paradigmatic, while others present the same examples as the opposite. In this article, existing definitions of crowdsourcing are analysed to extract common elements and to establish the basic characteristics of any crowdsourcing initiative. Based on these existing definitions, an exhaustive and consistent definition for crowdsourcing is presented and contrasted in 11 cases.