Solving the Problem of an Antiquated Scientific Citation Method
By: Evolution Xd
Tags: Blockchain, Distributed Ledgers, Scientific Research, Science, Technology

Solving the Problem of an Antiquated Scientific Citation Method

An open-source solution giving scientists the security that the credit for their data is protected, incentivizing data sharing and encouraging collaboration. Evolution XD Follow Oct 17, 2019 · 4 min read

The amount of data we produce every day is genuinely mind-blowing. Google alone generates 20 petabytes per day. That’s a quadrillion bytes. In the world of science, however, Google isn’t that remarkable. The pace of scientific data growth in many domains is doubling every seven months, with the field of genomics producing over 50 petabytes of data per day, more than twice that of Google, and the field of astronomy creating more than 60 times that of Google.

Researchers already recognize the benefits of data sharing. And yet only about half of the world’s research data is shared, and an even smaller proportion is shared in a way that would maximize discoverability and reuse. This is especially true across scientific domains — and that is tragic, because most of society’s grand challenges rely on interdisciplinary collaboration. We won’t solve climate change or reap the gains of precision medicine unless we break out of traditional silos.

So, if researchers’ hearts and minds are in the right place, why don’t they share?

It is pretty simple. You see, scientists today are producing so much data that it has utterly outpaced and overwhelmed the traditional model of scholarly publication, even after it moved to the web!

The Scientific Citation System is Broken

Scientists typically have long communicated their work as papers in often highly specialized scientific journals; a system that’s centuries old. Now they do this online but the product is still essentially a “paper”. If their “paper” is interesting, their peers will cite it. Publication in “high impact” journals (the most cited) are very coveted. The more citations and the more prestigious the journals, the more esteem and professional advancement the scientist gets. There are many nuances, but the vital point is that the current system designed for citing “papers” does a very poor job with data. Yet data is now the fundamental driver of science… and much else.

We spend hundreds of billions of dollars globally each year on publicly funded research and development, but our data sharing problem is threatening the foundations and credibility of all scientific enterprise. For example, one of the cornerstones of science is being able to reproduce another scientist’s work to confirm their results and further those results with new theories.

Because much of the original research data is inaccessible. Add to that 80% of research is irreproducible and you have a scientific crisis with loud and passionate calls for immediate action.

How to Fix the Broken Scientific Citation System?

What if there was a way to make sure scientists received credit for their years of hard work, and that the credit was secure and not subject to misattribution? What if data could move seamlessly across domains to address questions not even thought of when the data was first collected? Scientists would be as incentivized to share their research data openly as they are today to publish papers in the top journals. Scientists would want their data to be used as widely as possible, safe in the knowledge that they would be guaranteed fair recognition for their contributions. The field of science would increase in efficiency and new discoveries to help humanity would be made at a faster pace.

EvolutionXD will Transform Scientific Citation

EvolutionXD, a new scientific citation platform that utilizes distributed ledger technology to track research data will be the solution to the antiquated scientific citation method. Using the EvolutionXD platform, scientists will share their data across domains, receive credit, and collaborate with other researchers, knowing that the credit for their research is protected and will always be theirs. Everyone wins when value is added through the use and reuse of data.

Using the EvolutionXD cloud-based portal, scientists will be able to easily upload their data knowing that it will remain secure with proper attribution. EvolutionXD will encourage and reward the critical steps to make data accessible across domains, facilitating search and discovery across multiple data stores and tracking those transactions so that there is always an immutable trail of credit.

With Evolution XD, scientists will be equitably rewarded more than ever before for solving the World’s growing complex challenges without having to worry about not being cited for their hard work.

Contrary to popular opinion, Darwinian evolution is not all about competition, the arc of biological history has always trended to cooperation. Humans are the most collaborative species of all time and our scientific economy should work with this vision, not stifle it.

To find out more, visit evolutionxd.com today. It’s time to evolve again.