As the academic community observes Peer Review Week (September 15–19) under the theme “Rethinking Peer Review in the AI Era,” blockchain is emerging as more than just a buzzword in scholarly publishing. Once viewed as experimental, blockchain-based peer review platforms are now demonstrating tangible benefits, delivering transparency, accountability, and incentives where traditional systems have struggled.
These platforms, collectively, illustrate how blockchain is reshaping peer review through transparency, incentives, and decentralized governance.
The Blockchain-Enabled Peer Review Landscape One of the biggest criticisms of traditional peer review is the lack of fair recognition and compensation for reviewers. This is where ResearchHub has made its mark. With more than 50,000 monthly users and a daily trading volume of $848,000, the platform compensates reviewers with $150 in RSC tokens per review. Backed by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, ResearchHub demonstrates that rewarding reviewers fairly is not only possible but also sustainable.
Another persistent concern in academia is the manipulation of peer review and intellectual property theft. Addressing this, BeerReview leverages Ethereum to ensure that every manuscript is time-stamped and protected, thereby reducing the risk of tampering. Having completed its alpha testing, it is already showing how blockchain can guard against malpractice.
The challenge of transparency has long plagued scholarly publishing. Orvium provides a solution by embedding blockchain timestamps into its workflows, enabling instant proof-of-existence for manuscripts. Authors retain copyright, reviewers are visible through transparent records, and journals gain credibility through tamper-proof processes.
Peer review is also about trust and reputation. Pluto takes a unique approach by building a reputation-based ecosystem. Reviewers are blinded to maintain fairness, but their contributions earn tokens and strengthen their standing within the system, ensuring that quality reviewers are recognized and incentivized.
The question of review quality itself is addressed by Eureka, which uses smart contract automation to create a decentralized incentive system. By directly tying rewards to review quality, it shifts focus from speed to rigor.
Finally, PubChain tackles the issue of open access and reviewer incentives at scale. By combining IPFS storage with blockchain-driven reviewer reward schemes, it presents a model where peer review is decentralized, auditable, and more inclusive than legacy systems.
Platforms in Development
ROSA: A Web3 peer review model that offers NFT-based ownership rights and DAO governance of review processes.
DAP: Built on HashNET DLT, it introduces a scholarly wallet and virtual editor to enhance peer review efficiency.
Why Blockchain Matters for Peer Review Blockchain is addressing challenges that have long undermined academic publishing:
Fair Compensation: ResearchHub’s model ($150 per review) demonstrates that reviewers can be rewarded equitably. Immutable Records: Blockchain timestamps ensure reviews remain tamper-proof after publication. Transparency: Public audit trails enhance accountability and reduce the likelihood of malpractice. Accessibility: Decentralized networks open doors to participation across regions.
Medical Peer Review: A High-Stakes Application In medicine and health sciences, where flawed peer review can have direct consequences for patient care, blockchain brings additional advantages:
Bias prevention through conflict-of-interest detection algorithms
Reviewer reputation scoring to highlight reliability and expertise
Automated matching of manuscripts with qualified reviewers
Global cryptocurrency rewards to attract highly skilled evaluators
The Road Ahead Blockchain’s entry into peer review marks a paradigm shift in scholarly communication. While adoption hurdles such as scalability, governance, and cultural acceptance remain, the trajectory is clear: decentralized platforms are redefining how science can be reviewed, validated, and shared.
This Peer Review Week reminds us that the future of peer review is not just about efficiency, but about restoring trust, fairness, and global inclusivity. Blockchain may well be the cornerstone of this transformation.
Keywords
Blockchain peer review
decentralized publishing
transparent scholarly communication
reviewer incentives
immutable timestamps
academic publishing innovation
medical peer review
Web3 in research
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The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of their affiliated institutions, the Asian Council of Science Editors (ACSE), or the Editor’s Café editorial team.
Comments
Prof. Dr. Maan Abdul Azeez Shafeeq
19 September, 2025
Great article, but blockchain isn't applicable to all journals or in all countries. Often times, we review research papers and don't receive any fees for the review, especially in Iraq. Sending money from abroad is prohibited for security reasons, so we only receive a certificate proving our review. Therefore, I am a supporter of the implementation of this blockchain system, especially in Iraq, to collect fees for review efforts and ensure transparency and academic integrity.
Prof.Dr.Sami Ali Metwally
19 September, 2025
Thank you for this insightful post on blockchain in peer review.
Integrating blockchain technology could enhance transparency, traceability, and trust in scholarly evaluation.
I’m interested to see how such innovations can complement existing peer-review models and help address long-standing challenges such as reviewer recognition and data integrity.
Shahbaz
19 September, 2025
1. Who will pay the cost of this review process? If the journal is paying, it will increase the publication cost.
2. Can the journal accept the cost of review for the manuscript that is going to be rejected?
3. I think the journal can not bear it, or it will start choosing the reviewers who mostly accept the papers.
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Prof. Dr. Maan Abdul Azeez Shafeeq
19 September, 2025Great article, but blockchain isn't applicable to all journals or in all countries. Often times, we review research papers and don't receive any fees for the review, especially in Iraq. Sending money from abroad is prohibited for security reasons, so we only receive a certificate proving our review. Therefore, I am a supporter of the implementation of this blockchain system, especially in Iraq, to collect fees for review efforts and ensure transparency and academic integrity.