The Personal Is Professional: Rethinking the Ethics of Collaboration and Responsibility in Citizen Social Science in Palestine

ABSTRACT This paper examines the personal‐professional nexus in community‐based research to propose expanded ethical responsibilities for research involving Citizen Science. The article emerges from shared reflections by a UK and Palestine‐based team on research conducted by the Palestinian Citizen Social Scientists within their own communities in Ramallah between 2023 and 2024 – a period marked by devastating war and genocide. We foreground the negotiation and care required to adapt and continue research work in an extreme situation of collective mourning and personal risk. Based on our experience, we highlight the need to: (1) allocate space and time to consider positionalities when working in international teams and remotely in times of heightened violence; (2) attend to the risks to the reputation of Citizen Social Scientists, rarely covered by conventional risk protocols even for dangerous/conflict settings; (3) offer psychological support for researchers, whether distress is caused by the research or the wider context. These points are underpinned by the need to rethink the personal–professional distinction in research that builds on local researchers’ lived experience and personal relationships.