A Reputation System for Scientific Contributions Based on a Token Economy

Christof Bless, Alexander Denzler, Oliver Karras, Sören Auer

Abstract: One way of determining the reputation of a scientist is by assessing the portfolio of their publications in peer-reviewed journals and conferences. However, this reputation is an incomplete measure of achievement and creates a variety of misaligned incentives that negatively influence the scientific process and cause an increased distribution of low-quality research content. In this paper, we point out some current problems in the scientific process, how they are linked to the behavioral patterns of optimizing bibliographic metrics, and present a possible solution in the form of a reputation token system. The solution is characterized by a token economy with mechanisms to create stronger incentives for high-quality contributions and deter fraud. We provide a prototypical implementation of the reputation token as a smart contract for the Ethereum blockchain with a user interface and network visualization.