Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34253602›Full record

ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2021

Citizen monitoring of waterways decreases pollution in China by supporting government action and oversight.

Mark T Buntaine, Bing Zhang, Patrick Hunnicutt

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Adoption of community monitoring improves common pool resource management across contexts.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2021
    Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Indicators, Goals, and Assessment of the Water Sustainability in China: A Provincial and City-Level Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023
    Article
  4. Citizen monitoring of waterways decreases pollution in China by supporting government action and oversight.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2021
    Article
  5. On design-based empirical research and its interpretation and ethics in sustainability science.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2021
    Article
  6. Synthesizing evidence in sustainability science through harmonized experiments: Community monitoring in common pool resources.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2021
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Mark T BuntaineBren School of Environmental Science & Management, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106; buntaine@bren.ucsb.edu zhangb@nju.edu.cn.ORCID 0000-0002-7139-2078
Bing ZhangState Key Laboratory of Pollution Control & Resource Reuse, School of Environment, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China buntaine@bren.ucsb.edu zhangb@nju.edu.cn.ORCID 0000-0002-3395-8667
Patrick HunnicuttBren School of Environmental Science & Management, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106.ORCID 0000-0002-2588-0783

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Water pollution is a persistent problem in China, in part, because local governments fail to implement water quality standards set by national and provincial authorities. These higher authorities often lack regular information about the immediate and long-term achievement of remediation targets. Accordingly, central authorities have encouraged nongovernmental organizations to monitor local governments' remediation efforts. This study examines whether nongovernmental monitoring of urban waterways improves water quality by facilitating oversight of local governments or instigating public action for remediation. We randomly assigned urban waterways in Jiangsu province previously identified for remediation to be monitored by a partner nongovernmental organization for 15 mo. We further randomized whether the resulting information was disseminated to local and provincial governments, the public, or both. Disseminating results from monitoring to local and provincial governments improved water quality, but disseminating results to the public did not have detectable effects on water quality or residents' pursuit of remediation through official and volunteer channels. Monitoring can improve resource management when it provides information that makes local resource managers accountable to higher authorities.

Indexed as

ChinaCitiesConservation of Natural ResourcesEnvironmental Restoration and RemediationHumansInformation DisseminationLocal GovernmentPublic-Private Sector PartnershipsWater PollutionChinamonitoringnongovernmental organizationswater pollution

Identifiers

PMID34253602
PMCPMC8307295

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.