Will decentralized science fix the broken peer review system

Supporters of an emerging movement known as Decentralized Science (DeSci) believe it could solve long-standing issues in the scientific peer review system. 

Maximizing blockchain and other decentralized mechanisms, DeSci aims to transform scientific development and research. The movement seamlessly allows teamwork and rewards the sharing of knowledge—all while ensuring research security, reproducibility, and transparency. 

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin explained in an interview on The DeSci Podcast that he sees DeSci as various ideas that basically try to answer this question: “What are some ways in which emerging open decentralized technologies can make science better?” 

DeSci covers a range of topics and methods that aim to democratize scientific discoveries and research. 

Cardano co-founder Charles Hoskinson is among the strong supporters of the DeSci movement. In a recent X post, Hoskinson said that the movement addresses the problem regarding the revenue of major academic publishers and the payments received by reviewers and authors. Hoskinson further described the peer review system as “terribly broken”. 

 

Blockchain-based DeSci solves this problem. The peer-review and publishing system is terribly broken. pic.twitter.com/zdeJA9uVd2

— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) October 8, 2024

For a long time, the whole scientific community has grappled with the issue of pay incentives and peer review. 

 

Buterin also noted in his interview that the peer review system is a major issue in the academic world that “has turned into its own game that is unfair in a lot of ways” and also “gets exploited in a lot of ways”. He further expressed that it leads to “very misaligned behavior as people try to chase citations” in various ways. 

In scientific research, peer review generally refers to checking the work of others to ensure accuracy. As it ascertains that errors, mistakes, and miscalculations are not bypassed, the task bears a lot of weight. Because of this, qualified peer reviewers are typically in charge of conducting it. 

Though the issue of who qualifies as a peer reviewer has been a pressing concern. There have also been questions regarding whether the entire peer review process is sufficiently diverse and fair to represent scientific research, as reported by Cointelegraph. 

To serve as a potential solution, the idea of “pre-prints” have surfaced in the field of research. These pre-prints allow researchers to pass information to others without waiting for the strict review process to be finished. 

However, several studies do not go past the initial stage of publishing. While the pre-print system allows researchers to present their work publicly even without finishing the stringent process of peer review, the claims of these researchers could stay dubious. 

Decentralized Science could be the answer

As an avid supporter of the movement, Hoskinson is positive that DeSci is the answer to this problem. DeSci addresses the persisting gap between unfettered feats in the field and conventional peer review by implementing a system that rewards the participation of qualified reviewers. 

Unlike traditional science, DeSci largely depends on special systems like decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) for managing fund use and group protocols. 

Following rules set over a blockchain, these DAOs are community-managed groups that operate without a central leader. According to Chainalysis, the processes and powers of decision-making in these DAOs are typically dictated by smart contracts, which are virtual contracts that execute functions on their own when certain conditions are achieved, rather than a central authority. DAOs typically allow community members to participate in shaping a project's direction. 

With DAOs in DeSci, decision-making and control are spread out—rather than being entrusted to just a couple of publishers. According to Coinmarketcap, this allows scientific reviews to become more transparent and have increased accountability. 

Not to mention that the DeSci model may also reward scientific participation mainly through a token-based structure. The system incentivizes peer review contributions, potentially leading to scientific democratization and boosted accessibility. As a result, evaluation speed and quality could be enhanced. 

This reflects an economy where the peer review process and research are given rightful importance. DeSci proponents believe that this removes the need to have monolithic journals. 

As it harnesses web3's power, DeSci is a revolutionary development in the world of science. Tapping into DAOs for decision-making, blockchain technology for secure storage of data, and tokenization for research rewards and intellectual property control, DeSci is bound to shape the future of science.