Development of a Blockchain-Based Scientific Provenance and Citation Platform

Researchers face difficulties in establishing immutable proof of research artifact existence, naming, and attribution, leading to delayed dissemination and recognition of scientific results. The lack of a transparent, tamper-proof record hampers trust, citation accuracy, and recognition of contributions within the scholarly community.

A mid-sized academic consortium or research institution aiming to secure and authenticate research outputs and citations using blockchain technology.

• Create a secure, immutable ledger to certify the existence of research artifacts and data.
• Enable researchers to share unpublished content with verifiable provenance and recognition.
• Implement mechanisms for citing and referencing research artifacts with validated timestamps and authorship.
• Integrate a scalable blockchain infrastructure supporting rapid validation and transaction confirmation.
• Develop a user-friendly interface for managing research transactions and profiles in real time.
• Facilitate integration with existing research data systems and external research graph APIs.
• Ensure data security, privacy, and compliance with open standards.

• Single sign-on (SSO) authentication for seamless user access.
• Proof of Existence transaction creation for research artifacts using hash functions.
• Validation process through a permissioned blockchain network ensuring transaction integrity.
• Smart contract services to record citation transactions, with automatic updates to researcher profiles.
• Data linkage capabilities connecting blockchain transactions with internal research data repositories and academic graphs.
• User dashboards for managing artifacts, citations, and profiles in real time.
• Administrative tools for transaction monitoring, system health, and analytics.

• Existing research data management systems for artifact data linkage
• Academic research graph APIs for contextual data enhancement
• Authentication systems for SSO support
• Monitoring and analytics tools for system oversight

• System scalability to handle large volumes of research transactions with low latency
• High availability and fault tolerance using container orchestration
• Data privacy and access control consistent with research confidentiality
• Transaction validation within seconds for real-time updates
• Immutable audit trail for all research provenance and citation transactions

The blockchain-enabled research platform aims to significantly accelerate scientific communication by providing immutable proof of research artifacts and citations, thereby enhancing trust, transparency, and recognition within the scholarly community. Expected outcomes include faster dissemination of findings, improved attribution accuracy, and increased confidence in research data integrity, leading to higher citation rates and researcher reputation.