v2026.1CASRAI Dictionary 1,610 entries across 24 domains · CC-BY 4.01,610 entries · CC-BY 4.0

Dictionary termTrack EStablev2026.2

Crowdfunded research

Research projects funded by aggregated small contributions from many individuals, typically solicited through online platforms (Experiment, Kickstarter, GoFundMe, institutional giving sites) rather than from traditional grant-making bodies.

ByCASRAI Editorial Board

· Last updated 21 May 2026

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Examples

Worked examples

Is an instance
A marine biologist raises 18,000 USD on Experiment.com for a 6-month coastal sampling campaign.
Is an instance
A university launches a crowdfunding platform that has funded 45 small research projects in three years.

Counter-examples

Looks similar, but isn't

Not an instance
A multi-million-dollar NIH R01 is not crowdfunded.
Not an instance
Industry-sponsored research is not crowdfunding.

Editorial commentary

Crowdfunded research has emerged as a complement to grant funding, especially for high-public-engagement topics, niche or unconventional research, and projects too small to justify a major grant application. Successful campaigns combine clear research questions, professional-quality video communication, accessible reward structures, and active social-media outreach. Crowdfunded research raises distinct ethical and governance questions: backer transparency, conflict of interest, IP ownership, and oversight. Some institutions now publish crowdfunded-research policies.

References

Experiment.com case studies; Nature 2014 commentary on crowdfunded science.

Also known as

Crowdsourced funding · Crowdfunding (research)

Machine-readable encodings

Use in your systems

JATS XML <role> element

xml

<role vocab="credit"
      vocab-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/"
      vocab-term="Crowdfunded research"
      vocab-term-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/crowdfunded-research" />

Schema.org DefinedTerm (JSON-LD)

json

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "DefinedTerm",
  "@id": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/crowdfunded-research",
  "name": "Crowdfunded research",
  "identifier": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/crowdfunded-research",
  "description": "Research projects funded by aggregated small contributions from many individuals, typically solicited through online platforms (Experiment, Kickstarter, GoFundMe, institutional giving sites) rather than from traditional grant-making bodies.",
  "inDefinedTermSet": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/domain/funding-finance#set",
  "url": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/crowdfunded-research",
  "sameAs": [
    "Crowdsourced funding",
    "Crowdfunding (research)"
  ],
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "publisher": {
    "@id": "https://casrai.org/#organization"
  },
  "dateModified": "2026-05-21T02:22:59",
  "inLanguage": "en"
}

Referenced across the research world

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