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DeSci Based on Web3 and DAO: A Comprehensive Overview and Reference Model
Abstract
Decentralized science (DeSci) is a hot topic emerging with the development of Web3 or Web3.0 and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and operations. DeSci fundamentally differs from the centralized science (CeSci) and Open Science (OS) movement built in the centralized way with centralized protocols. It changes the basic structure and legacy norms of current scientific systems via reshaping the cooperation mode, value system, and incentive mechanism. As such, it can provide a viable path for solving bottleneck problems in the development of science, such as oligarchy, silos, and so on, and make science more fair, free, responsible, and sensitive. However, DeSci itself still faces many challenges, including scaling, balancing the quality of participants, system suboptimal loops, lack of accountability mechanism, and so on. Taking these into consideration, this article presents a systematic introduction of DeSci, proposes a novel reference model with a six-layer architecture, addresses the potential applications, and also outlines the key research directions in this emerging field. This article is committed to providing helpful guidance and reference for future research efforts on DeSci.
... Tokenizing everything relying on blockchain technology makes them reliable and increases trust; the definition of decentralized finance (DeFi) was proposed in 2017 (it means tokenizing financial correspondences and all related issues based on blockchain). As a subgroup of DeFi, decentralized science (DeSci) assists researchers and academia in tokenizing their achievements on a blockchain [74,101,102] . As a result, releasing DT projects as DeSci tokens is an excellent and reliable idea for fundraising in this field. ...
... The DeSci model promotes a new paradigm where scientific research and technological innovations are funded and governed in a decentralized manner [101,102] . By tokenizing scientific outputs, researchers can secure funding directly from a global pool of investors and enthusiasts. ...
... In conclusion, funding DT projects requires a multifaceted approach, combining traditional and innovative funding mechanisms. Blockchain-based crowdfunding, DeSci, NFTs, government and academic grants, corporate sponsorships, and venture capital are all viable options [65,74,101,102] . By leveraging these diverse funding sources, DT projects can secure the necessary financial support to drive innovation and achieve their goals. ...
The fourth industrial revolution has significantly increased the adoption of Digital Twins (DTs) across various sectors, including intelligent manufacturing, automation, logistics, and medical analysis. Despite substantial progress in deploying DT projects, numerous challenges remain, such as managing distributed data flows, protecting commercial confidentiality, securing intellectual property, and ensuring privacy and security. This research introduces a novel approach to addressing these challenges by leveraging blockchain and Web3 technologies, including non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and Distributed Autonomous Organizations (DAOs). The study aims to develop a distributed, tamper-proof DT cooperation platform that facilitates traceable and trustworthy data sharing while preserving intellectual property rights and enabling decentralized governance. This platform enhances idea and invention ownership, promotes collective decision-making through consensus protocols, and explores innovative solutions like blockchain-based federated learning and efficient DT project fundraising tools. Relying on security models and analysis tools, this study addresses several important security analysis methods/tools/models (e.g., random oracle model, BAN logic, AVISPA tool, and TAMARIN prover) that are known as practical analysis methods. They can strongly prove every claimed security feature of DT projects. The proposed solutions set the stage for future academic and industrial advancements, supported by a comprehensive SWOT (Strongness - Weakness - Opportunity - Threat) analysis, and outline potential future research directions.
... Despite their potential to redefine how projects are funded, these novel funding practices are yet to be standardized and the gap towards a comprehensive evaluative framework still needs to be filled. Existing research, such as studies on decentralized science (DeSci) [1] and Web3 governance [2], only mention selected issues, leaving a systematic approach to be desired. This lack of thorough, systematic research poses substantial challenges for Web3 grantors, DAO operators, and grantees who must often navigate these waters with limited formal guidance. ...
... However, the introduction of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) to Web3 has disrupted these traditional frameworks. DAOs bring new challenges, particularly in transparency and governance, areas that are still under-researched [1,6]. ...
This report introduces the Grant Maturity Index (GMI), a novel evaluative framework designed to assess the maturity and operational effectiveness of Web3 grant programs. As Web3 continues to develop, the decentralized nature of these programs brings both opportunities and challenges, particularly when it comes to governance, transparency, and community engagement. Traditional funding models are often governed by standardized processes, but Web3 grants lack such consistency, making it difficult for grant operators to measure the long-term success of their programs.The Grant Maturity Index (GMI) was created through exploratory applied research to address this gap. Inspired by the World Bank's GovTech Maturity Index (GTMI), the GMI is tailored specifically for the decentralized Web3 ecosystem. The GMI evaluates key dimensions of grant programs governance, transparency, operational efficiency, and community engagement, providing grant operators with a clear benchmark for assessing and improving their programs. The primary objectives of this research are to, first, identify the structural indicators that adequately describe Web3 grant programs. Second, to describe optimal outcomes for programs by evaluating their maturity across key operational areas. The GMI is applied to four major Ethereum Layer 2 grant programs, namely Arbitrum, Mantle, Taiko Labs, and Optimism. These case studies highlight areas where Web3 grant programs require improvement, particularly in standardizing processes, enhancing transparency, and increasing community participation.
... This section examines the role of blockchain as a foundational element of the Web3 infrastructure, catalyzing transformative changes across diverse fields. Notably, it impacts areas such as gaming finance (GameFi) [79] and decentralized science (DeSci) [14,80,81], enhancing human-AI interactions and facilitating a seamless transition from Web2 to Web3 paradigms. This exploration underscores blockchain's potential to revolutionize the landscape of research and development across multiple scientific and economic sectors as illustrated in Figure 9. ...
... In response to these challenges, we advocate for the integration of GameFi with decentralized science (DeSci) [14,80,81]. This proposal aims to transform GameFi platforms into experimental laboratories where economic behaviors can be meticulously studied within gamified environments. ...
This chapter presents a research perspective that explores the transformative impact of blockchain technology on Behavioral and Experimental Economics. It addresses critical digital challenges such as subject identity verification and privacy, trust in researchers, and the design of experimental incentives. By advocating for a blockchain-integrated framework, the chapter aims to enhance data authenticity, privacy, and incentivization through decentralized mechanisms and smart contracts, thereby ensuring research that is transparent, tamper-proof, and practical. Additionally, the chapter proposes a paradigm shift toward a “play to learn” model, which bridges decentralized science with the realm of gaming finance to advance research and development. This integration signals a new era of interdisciplinary research, offering profound insights into human behavior within the digital economy and illuminating new research pathways that connect Web2 to Web3 environments.
... Web3, the decentralized web, refers to a new age that differs from the currently centralized web. This transition is due to the shortcomings of the current centralized structure (Ding et al., 2022). Web3's primary goal is to turn the Internet into a network in which data are exchanged between individuals rather than combined into a few giant companies' databases. ...
... Web3 represents the realization of blockchain technology, on which cryptocurrencies and NFTs are founded. Blockchain, a distributed ledger technology among several nodes, enables network security because the executed transactions are recorded immutably (Ding et al., 2022). This dispersed data arrangement is the opposite of Web2, which uses server farms to store information and is free from cheating and fraud. ...
The role of Web3 technologies was examined specifically regarding SmartCharity and their effect on the financing and delivery of public goods in developing countries. The research focused on the case of SmartCharity, its role in making fund distribution more transparent and efficient, and the role of NFTs and smart contracts’ efficacy in changing. For primary data, the cross-sectional study used interviews and questionnaires administered to the critical actors in or close to SmartCharity initiatives; secondary data came from project reports and publicly accessible sources. Quantitative analysis uses statistics to identify trends and correlations in data, whereas qualitative data analysis identifies such trends and patterns. This paper aimed to establish an appreciation of the strengths and weaknesses of Web3 innovation in public good management and make future suggestions for improvement.
... Recently, some researchers have explored decentralized approaches for research lifecycle management, with projects like the blockchain-based framework proposed by (Cao, 2022;Ding et al., 2022;Huang et al., 2019) and the decentralized data management solutions discussed by (Domingue et al., 2019) leading the way. DeSci (Ding et al., 2022) aims to solve the bottleneck problems about oligarchy and data silos, and make science more fair, free, responsible, and sensitive, compared to the Centralized Science (CeSci). ...
... Recently, some researchers have explored decentralized approaches for research lifecycle management, with projects like the blockchain-based framework proposed by (Cao, 2022;Ding et al., 2022;Huang et al., 2019) and the decentralized data management solutions discussed by (Domingue et al., 2019) leading the way. DeSci (Ding et al., 2022) aims to solve the bottleneck problems about oligarchy and data silos, and make science more fair, free, responsible, and sensitive, compared to the Centralized Science (CeSci). Integrating blockchain, smart contracts, DAO, and Web3 for research data management marks a significant shift towards decentralized governance and autonomy over data sharing and collaboration. ...
Scientific research, increasingly reliant on data and computational analysis, confronts the challenge of integrating collaboration and data sharing across disciplines. Collaborative frameworks that support decentralized decision-making and knowledge-sharing are essential, yet integrating them into computational environments presents technical challenges, such as decentralized identity, user-centered policy-making, flexible asset management, automated provenance, and distributed collaborative workflow management. In this work, we propose a novel framework called Decentralized Virtual Research Environment (D-VRE) that addresses barriers to scientific research collaboration and data sharing, offering a scalable and adaptable decentralized model. It enhances seamless, trusted data sharing and collaboration within research lifecycles. It incorporates custom sharing policies, secure asset management, collaborative workflows, and research activity tracking, all without centralized oversight. Demonstrated through a real-world case study in the CLARIFY project, D-VRE proved effective in enabling advanced data sharing and collaborative scenarios, showcasing its adaptability in scientific research. Integrated into JupyterLab, D-VRE supports custom collaboration agreements and smart contract-based automated execution on the Ethereum blockchain. This ensures secure, verifiable transactions and promotes trust and reliability in shared research findings.
... Decentralized science (DeSci) is an emerging topic linked to Web3 and DAOs. However, DeSci faces hurdles like scaling, participant quality balancing, system suboptimal loops, and a lack of accountability mechanisms (Ding et al., 2022). ...
... Web3 applications have given rise to the concept of Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), which are new organization forms with management and operational rules encoded on blockchain in the form of smart contracts, autonomously operating without centralized control or third-party intervention (Wang et al., 2019). DAOs operate on a consensus mechanism, allowing members to participate in governance without the need for traditional hierarchical structures (Ding et al., 2022). This can enable a more democratic and transparent approach to organizational management. ...
This chapter delved into the multifaceted benefits and challenges characterizing the Web 3 paradigm. Web 3, operating on decentralized networks, fortifies digital ecosystems against cyber threats and unauthorized access, exemplified by the resilience of Bitcoin's decentralized blockchain. Rooted in blockchain technology, web 3 introduces transparency to transactions, fostering trust and eliminating intermediaries. User empowerment takes center stage as Web 3 enables unprecedented control over digital assets through blockchain-based smart contracts. Tokenization stimulates collaboration, fostering a more inclusive digital economy, while interoperability connects diverse blockchain networks seamlessly. The metaverse's integration into Web 3 faces challenges due to a lack of industry standards, exposing users to potential financial security risks. Scalability, regulatory uncertainty, and environmental impact present hurdles, emphasizing the need for innovative solutions.
... On the other hand, the partnership between partners is not hierarchical and centralized [32]. In the existing form of corporate organization, decentralized team building is realized through a limited partnership, and corresponding independent property ownership, voting rights, and dividend rights are granted to members of the organization [27]. The most important is that the limited liability system can not only guarantee the rights of the participants but also guarantee their limited liability in law and economy [28] [29]. ...
The current economic organizational forms are increasingly inadequate for humanity's long-term development. Blockchain technology, much like the advent of steam engines and power systems, is transforming national governance and market operations. A substantial body of literature has explored Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) built on blockchain technology. This paper builds upon existing literature to introduce the concept of a Decentralized Autonomous Community (DAC), delineate its legal framework, and propose a technical model based on the Consortium Blockchain. DACs not only address internal and external decision-making and governance within community systems but also ensure appropriate national supervision. By leveraging the innovative potential of blockchain, DACs promise a more efficient and equitable economic structure that aligns with contemporary societal needs.
... Thus, both the GMTI and the EVMF measure how well specific information systems are adapted to their use case [87]. For e-voting applications in the context of online communities, however, their transformational potential that reconfigures established societal practices, such as research and innovation, into open and participatory processes [38] must be taken into account. ...
Voting is a cornerstone of collective participatory decision-making in contexts ranging from political elections to decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). Despite the proliferation of internet voting protocols promising enhanced accessibility and efficiency, their evaluation and comparison are complicated by a lack of standardized criteria and unified definitions of security and maturity. Furthermore, socio-technical requirements by decision makers are not structurally taken into consideration when comparing internet voting systems. This paper addresses this gap by introducing a trust-centric maturity scoring framework to quantify the security and maturity of sixteen internet voting systems. A comprehensive trust model analysis is conducted for selected internet voting protocols, examining their security properties, trust assumptions, technical complexity, and practical usability. In this paper we propose the electronic voting maturity framework (EVMF) which supports nuanced assessment that reflects real-world deployment concerns and aids decision-makers in selecting appropriate systems tailored to their specific use-case requirements. The framework is general enough to be applied to other systems, where the aspects of decentralization, trust, and security are crucial, such as digital identity, Ethereum layer-two scaling solutions, and federated data infrastructures. Its objective is to provide an extendable toolkit for policy makers and technology experts alike that normalizes technical and non-technical requirements on a univariate scale.
... ON6 -Routing, network dis-integration and (network) mobility: The REASON architecture must address the challenges that Web 3.0 and network dis-integration poses for routing in fixed networks [95]. Web 3.0 envisages the emergence of Distributed Autonomous Organisations (DAOs) [96], introducing concepts like ''semantic commu- ...
The development of the sixth generation of communication networks (6G) has been gaining momentum over the past years, with a target of being introduced by 2030. Several initiatives worldwide are developing innovative solutions and setting the direction for the key features of these networks. Some common emerging themes are the tight integration of AI, the convergence of multiple access technologies and sustainable operation, aiming to meet stringent performance and societal requirements. To that end, we are introducing REASON - Realising Enabling Architectures and Solutions for Open Networks. The REASON project aims to address technical challenges in future network deployments, such as E2E service orchestration, sustainability, security and trust management, and policy management, utilising AI-native principles, considering multiple access technologies and cloud-native solutions. This paper presents REASON’s architecture and the identified requirements for future networks. The architecture is meticulously designed for modularity, interoperability, scalability, simplified troubleshooting, flexibility, and enhanced security, taking into consideration current and future standardisation efforts, and the ease of implementation and training. It is structured into four horizontal layers: Physical Infrastructure, Network Service, Knowledge, and End-User Application, complemented by two vertical layers: Management and Orchestration, and E2E Security. This layered approach ensures a robust, adaptable framework to support the diverse and evolving requirements of 6G networks, fostering innovation and facilitating seamless integration of advanced technologies.
... Firstly, as [3] and [4] show, the capitalization of the assets managed by DAOs has grown significantly over the past few years, indicating an increase in trust in this type of system. Furthermore, a wide range of real-world applications of DAO have been developed in most diverse fields, such as education, science, and social networks [5]- [8]. Particularly interesting are novel applications of DAOs that promise to catalyze positive societal impact by supporting economic models oriented to the commons [9]. ...
Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) are a type of Decentralized Applications (DApps) that utilize smart contracts to support governance processes. DAO development is especially challenging because of the complexity of designing and validating their token economies and governance structures. Empirical research reveals that several issues related to their governance and token economy limit the utility of DAOs. In addition, DAOs suffer from the scalability, usability, and complexity limitations faced by all DApps. Although different approaches address some of the issues mentioned in isolation, a holistic method for DAO design is lacking. To address this gap, we propose a modeling language and a method which support crucial DAO design and development phases. The approach is evaluated through multiple in vivo case studies. This involves modeling three novel applications of DAOs for social impact. Unlike existing solutions, comprehensive stepwise guidance is provided by our method for both technical and non-technical stakeholders involved in DAO development from the initial stages of the project.
... The decentralized nature of blockchain-based protocols has previously motivated many researchers to utilize its advantages for new designs of peer review systems. Our work is also a building block towards a Decentralized Science (DeSci) future [22]. ...
Peer review, as a widely used practice to ensure the quality and integrity of publications, lacks a well-defined and common mechanism to self-incentivize virtuous behavior across all the conferences and journals. This is because information about reviewer efforts and author feedback typically remains local to a single venue, while the same group of authors and reviewers participate in the publication process across many venues. Previous attempts to incentivize the reviewing process assume that the quality of reviews and papers authored correlate for the same person, or they assume that the reviewers can receive physical rewards for their work. In this paper, we aim to keep track of reviewing and authoring efforts by users (who review and author) across different venues while ensuring self-incentivization. We show that our system, DecentPeeR, incentivizes reviewers to behave according to the rules, i.e., it has a unique Nash equilibrium in which virtuous behavior is rewarded.
... ON6 -Routing, network dis-integration and (network) mobility: The REASON architecture must address the challenges that Web 3.0 and network dis-integration poses for routing in fixed networks [95]. Web 3.0 envisages the emergence of Distributed Autonomous Organisations (DAOs) [96], introducing concepts like ''semantic commu- ...
The development of the sixth generation of communication networks (6G) has been gaining momentum over the past years, with a target of being introduced by 2030. Several initiatives worldwide are developing innovative solutions and setting the direction for the key features of these networks. Some common emerging themes are the tight integration of AI, the convergence of multiple access technologies and sustainable operation, aiming to meet stringent performance and societal requirements. To that end, we are introducing REASON - Realising Enabling Architectures and Solutions for Open Networks. The REASON project aims to address technical challenges in future network deployments, such as E2E service orchestration, sustainability, security and trust management, and policy management, utilising AI-native principles, considering multiple access technologies and cloud-native solutions. This paper presents REASON's architecture and the identified requirements for future networks. The architecture is meticulously designed for modularity, interoperability, scalability, simplified troubleshooting, flexibility, and enhanced security, taking into consideration current and future standardisation efforts, and the ease of implementation and training. It is structured into four horizontal layers: Physical Infrastructure, Network Service, Knowledge, and End-User Application, complemented by two vertical layers: Management and Orchestration, and E2E Security. This layered approach ensures a robust, adaptable framework to support the diverse and evolving requirements of 6G networks, fostering innovation and facilitating seamless integration of advanced technologies.
... • Unlimited development of decentralized science (DeSci): Blockchain technology has enabled excellent collaboration for research teams in secure data sharing and fairness salary [112,113]. In this regard, DeSci, as a newlyemerged concept, provides many achievements and improves background issues of science-based projects such as financial calculation, fairness, complete removal of conflict of interests, and fair payment to all participants of projects [114]. ...
Undoubtedly, blockchain technology has emerged as one of the most fascinating advancements in recent decades. Its rapid development has attracted a diverse range of experts from various fields. Over the past five years, numerous blockchains have been launched, hosting a multitude of applications with varying objectives. However, a key limitation of blockchain-based services and applications is their isolation within their respective host blockchains, preventing them from recording or accessing data from other blockchains. This limitation has spurred developers to explore solutions for connecting different blockchains without relying on centralized intermediaries. This new wave of projects, officially called Layer 3 projects (L3) initiatives, has introduced innovative concepts like cross-chain transactions, multi-chain frameworks, hyper-chains, and more. This study provides an overview of these significant concepts and L3 projects while categorizing them into interoperability and scalability solutions. We then discuss opportunities, challenges, and future horizons of L3 solutions and present a SWOT (Strengths - Weaknesses - Opportunities - Threats) analysis of the two groups of L3 solutions and all other proposals. As an important part, we introduce the concept of Universal decentralized finance (DeFi) as one the most exciting applications of L3s which decreases transaction costs, enhances the security of crowdfunding, and provides many improvements in distributed lending-borrowing processes. The final part of this study maps the blockchain’s triangle problem on L3s and identifies current challenges from the L3’s perspective. Ultimately, the future directions of L3 for both academic and industry sectors are discussed.
... The resolution outcomes could hinge on whether DAOs adhere to federal commodities laws. The legal status of DAOs and the governance of Web 3.0 spaces will increasingly become a question for judicial systems [98]. As the metaverse evolves and precedents are established, familiarity with these matters will grow. ...
As the Metaverse promises to revolutionize human interaction and digital life, the role of edge computing emerges as a critical enabler. This paper presents a comprehensive survey of edge-enabled Metaverse applications, technological innovations, challenges, solutions, and future trajectories within the industry. We dissect the landscape of Metaverse applications across various sectors, analyzing how edge computing empowers real-time, immersive experiences. We delve into the cutting-edge advancements in decentralized computing infrastructure, edge networking, and artificial intelligence shaping the Metaverse, highlighting their potential to overcome latency, bandwidth, and privacy challenges. Additionally, we explore enabling technologies such as 5G and IoT, which facilitate seamless connectivity and data processing. We also address significant challenges, including the need for scalable and resilient infrastructure, data security concerns, and the integration of diverse technologies, proposing viable solutions like enhanced edge AI algorithms and robust cybersecurity frameworks. Finally, we chart prospective trajectories for edgeenabled Metaverse development, identifying key trends and potential disruptive forces that will shape the industry’s future. Our survey aims to serve as a definitive resource for researchers, developers, and industry leaders by providing a holistic understanding of edge computing’s pivotal role in realizing the boundless potential of the Metaverse.
... The latter scenario aligns with the funding issues for basic and translational research raised in the recent trend toward a decentralized science (DeSci) paradigm (Strauss, 2023a,b). The DeSci paradigm is based on the development of Web3.0 and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) (Ding et al., 2022). As a co-creative communication platform, DeSci can introduce productive uncertainty into an overdeveloped science system by encouraging diverse perspectives and open communication. ...
The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) present a challenge due to their potential for conflicting objectives, which hinders their effective implementation. In order to address the complexity of sustainability issues, a framework capable of capturing the specificity of diverse sustainability issues while offering a common methodology applicable across contexts is required. Co-creative communication can be regarded as a key source of uncertainty within functional systems, as it can be instrumental in realizing and sustaining sustainability. In this regard, the studies in Constructive approaches to Co-creative Communication (CCC), particularly those employing artificial intelligence (AI) methodologies such as computational social science and innovation studies, hold significant value for both theoretical and applied sustainability research. However, existing CCC frameworks cannot be directly applied to sustainability research. This work bridges this gap by proposing a framework that outlines a general approach to establishing formalized definitions of sustainability from the lens of communication. This approach enables the direct application of CCC models to sustainability studies. The framework is based on systems theory and the methodologies of artificial intelligence, including computational/symbolic modeling and formal methods. This framework emphasizes the social function of co-creative communication and the interaction between the innovation process and the sustainability of the system. It can be concluded that the application of our framework enables the achievements of CCC to be directly applied to sustainability research. Researchers from different disciplines are therefore able to establish their own specific definitions of sustainability, which are tailored to their particular concerns. Our framework lays the groundwork for future sustainability studies that employs CCC, facilitating the integration of CCC insights into sustainability research and application. The outcomes of computational creativity research based on AI technologies, such as distributed artificial intelligence and self-organizing networks, can deepen the understanding of sustainability mechanisms and drive their practical applications. Furthermore, the functional role of co-creative communication in societal sustainability proposed in this work offers a novel perspective for future discussions on the evolutionary adaptation of co-creative communication.
... In addition, due to their infrastructure, DAOs suffer from many of the same limitations and security issues as the blockchains on which they operate. Beyond that, some of the major limitations, as well as issues, are listed in Table VIII [ 190]- [193]. ...
... Somehow, this runs against the campaign of certain experts in the field and industry professionals-the latter of which are usually bullish. They contend that the technology underlying DAOs, which is also the foundation of Web3, is satisfactorily trustworthy (Ding et al., 2022a(Ding et al., , 2022b. This technology is believed to have the potential to revolutionize various industries through decentralised decision making, efficiency, and transparency (Sheridan et al., 2022;Qin et al., 2022). ...
... subcategories. Recurring 'Technological Aspects' include 'Web3' (Hamburg, 2021;Akinosho, 2022;Belova, 2022;Coinmonks, 2022;Hawkins, 2022;Moreland, 2022;Ethereum Foundation, 2023b;Ding et al., 2023;Magennis et al., 2023;Shilina, 2023;Starr et al., 2023;Xiaohui, 2023), 'Distributed Ledger Technology' (Hamburg, 2021;Belova, 2022;Hawkins, 2022;Moreland, 2022;Sicard, 2022;Wang et al., 2022;Ethereum Foundation, 2023b;Dehouche et al., 2023;JocelynDAO, 2023;Kisley, 2023) and 'Decentralization' (Golato, 2021;Koepsell, 2022;Parasol, 2022;Dehouche et al., 2023;Ding et al., 2023;Kisley, 2023;Starr et al., 2023), whereas scientific aspects frequently cite 'Research Funding' (Akinosho, 2022;Belova, 2022;Ding et al., 2022;Hamburg, 2022;FIGURE 2 Flowchart of the search and selection process for academic literature (modified from PRISMA (Tricco et al., 2018)). ...
Rapid advancements in Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), including blockchain, are foundational to a new era of digital innovation. This innovation has catalyzed the emergence of “Decentralized Science (DeSci),” a new concept and movement that aims to address the challenges of modern science. Given the novelty of the field of DeSci, this study aims to provide a comprehensive definition of the term and explore and conceptualize the shared values and guiding principles inherent to DeSci. To achieve these objectives, an exploratory literature review was conducted to identify and synthesize the scholarly and secondary literature. The search and selection process included six databases (PubMed, Google Scholar, Web of Science, IEEE Xplore, arXiv, and Social Science Research Network), focusing on the last 15 years (2008 to 2023). Owing to the novelty of DeSci, the literature review was supplemented by an anonymous online-based expert survey using a combination of single-choice and open-ended questions. The experts were selected based on predefined inclusion criteria related to their activities in the DeSci field. Seven studies were selected for evaluation from the scholarly literature, and additional 24 sources of information were included in the analysis. In the expert survey, 39 valid datasets were collected and analyzed. The synthesis of the exploratory literature review and expert survey results led to a comprehensive definition of “Decentralized Science” (DeSci) reflecting recurring themes. As no publications explicitly discussed or addressed the values or principles of DeSci in the literature review, a set of shared values and guiding principles was defined based on the expert survey results. This study proposes a comprehensive definition of DeSci and a set of shared values and guiding principles, highlighting the importance of future research in this area.
... Novel organisational structure Innovative decision making processes It should track the extent of reconfiguration for established societal practices, such as the transformation of research and innovation into open and participatory processes (Ding et al., 2022 ...
This presentation explores the development and classification of digital infrastructure procurement in small jurisdictions, thereby introducing the Digital Identity Maturity Index (DIMI). The DIMI is proposed as a tool to measure and compare digital identity schemes in small jurisdictions.
... A DAO [22] is an internet-native digital equivalent to traditional companies in the physical world. DAOs, in essence, allow members to create and vote on governance decisions that are specifically made by the boards of directors or executives in conventional companies. ...
In the rapidly evolving landscape of Web3 and blockchain technologies, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) have emerged as innovative structures that operate autonomously through blockchain and smart contracts, eliminating the need for centralized control. The federated learning (FL) process, akin to an information flow under structured transparency, involves local models (LMs) as inputs and the global model (GM) as the output for each global iteration. The lack of transparency and security in traditional FL systems can be attributed to the centralized validation of LMs and GM updates. In this paper, we propose DAO-FL, a smart contract-based framework that leverages the power of DAOs to address these FL challenges. DAO-FL introduces the concept of DAO Membership Tokens (DAOMTs) as a governance tool within a DAO. DAOMTs play a crucial role within the DAO, facilitating members’ enrollment and expulsion. Our framework incorporates a Validation-DAO for decentralized input verification (DIV) of the FL process, ensuring reliable and transparent validation of LMs. Additionally, DAO-FL employs a multi-signatures approach facilitated by an Orchestrator-DAO to achieve decentralized GM updates, and thus decentralized output verification (DOV) of the FL process. We present a comprehensive system architecture, detailed execution workflow, implementation specifications, and qualitative evaluation for DAO-FL. Evaluation under threat models highlights DAO-FL’s out-performance against traditional centralized-FL, effectively countering input and output attacks. DAO-FL excels in scenarios where DIV and DOV are crucial, offering enhanced transparency and trust. In conclusion, DAOFL provides a compelling solution for FL, reinforcing the integrity of the FL ecosystem through decentralized decision making and validation mechanisms.
... On news websites, DAOs appear to function as institutional entities, particularly in the governance and issuance of newsletters. DAOs, which are increasingly being adopted as operational systems in various organizations and companies within the Web3 ecosystem, operate transparently and securely based on blockchain technology in a democratic manner (Ding et al., 2022). This study empirically confirms that DAO systems stemming from the structural characteristics of Web 3.0 also apply to the news domain. ...
This study provides a pioneering analysis of the features and topics of news websites in the Web 3.0 era through a comparison with non-news sites. We first classify over 4,600 Web3 sites into news and non-news types to investigate the feature characteristics of decentralized websites as well as semantic and subject categories. The most novel finding is that Web3 news sites have more features than non-news sites in terms of design systems and functions, interactivity, information quality, and hyperlinks. Furthermore, news web3 domains have more terms in semantic networks associated with information provision (e.g., "source"), whereas non-news domains have more terms associated with finance (e.g., "token"). The integration of the Decentralized Autonomous Organization, a fundamental component of the Web3 ecosystem, began in the news industry and is at an early stage in terms of functionality and structure. The study’s results are discussed in the context of future Web3 domain development.
... This fosters a culture of transparency and accountability in research governance, which is critical for the responsible development of gene editing technologies. By leveraging smart contracts, DAOs offer an innovative framework that not only streamlines scientific inquiry but also integrates advanced biosecurity protocols, ensuring the safety and ethical integrity of the research process [39]. This emergent model of community oversight could play a central role in establishing a secure yet progressive landscape for CRISPR and other gene editing technologies. ...
The expansion of do-it-yourself (DIY) gene editing, facilitated by Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) technology, has catalyzed a significant shift in scientific research and biotechnology innovation. This movement is propelled by a community-driven approach that challenges the traditional confines of scientific exploration, allowing amateur scientists to perform sophisticated biological experiments. While this democratization fosters inclusivity and accelerates innovation, it simultaneously introduces significant biosecurity risks. The possibility of unregulated gene editing leading to the unintentional creation of harmful organisms or the deliberate engineering of pathogens underscores the need for a new regulatory framework. This paper explores the implications of DIY biology within the context of public health, environmental safety, and biosecurity, highlighting the urgency for adaptive policies that balance scientific freedom with security. It proposes integrating community-driven regulatory practices with formal oversight mechanisms by examining biosecurity implications, ethical considerations, and the potential for misuse. Additionally, the role of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) is explored as a novel approach to transforming governance within the domain of DIY gene editing, particularly in the context of CRISPR research.
... Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) are a class of decentralized applications (DApps) that use smart contracts to enable governance processes [1]. Although there are a large number of real-world applications of DAOs in diverse domains [2,3,4,5], recent attention has been paid to the issues that limit the utility of DAOs [6]. In particular, empirical evidence highlights the lack of scalability in voting systems, the excessive disunity of DAO communities, and the lack of participation in voting [7,8]. ...
Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) are a class of blockchain-based systems that support governance processes. Developing DAOs is particularly challenging due to the complexity of designing and validating their governance structures. These differ from traditional organizational forms due to their dynamic adaptability and decentralized nature. Although approaches to model decentralized governance have recently been proposed, they lack specificity to the design of DAOs. Therefore, we analyze the suitability properties of DAOs and develop a modeling language that captures the specificity of their governance structures. Unlike other approaches, the proposed modeling language combines high suitability for DAO development with usability, provided by its graphical notation. A quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the modeling language is performed using an in vivo case study. This involves modeling a DAO-based decentralized governance infrastructure for the Circles UBI (Universal Basic Income) community currency system. This system provides token-based unconditional income to a large number of users worldwide.
... What are their impacts on our life and society? Based on our previous reports in [8], [9] and recent developments in Blockchain and Smart Contracts based DeSci and DAO for decentralized autonomous organizations and operations [10], [11], several workshops [12]- [16] have been organized to address those important issues. The main results have been summarized in this perspective. ...
During our discussion at workshops for writing “What Does ChatGPT Say: The DAO from Algorithmic Intelligence to Linguistic Intelligence” [1], we had expected the next milestone for Artificial Intelligence (AI) would be in the direction of Imaginative Intelligence (II), i.e., something similar to automatic words-to-videos generation or intelligent digital movies/theater technology that could be used for conducting new “Artificiofactual Experiments” [2] to replace conventional “Counterfactual Experiments” in scientific research and technical development for both natural and social studies [2]–[6]. Now we have OpenAI's Sora, so soon, but this is not the final, actually far away, and it is just the beginning.
... Unlike traditional web applications, which rely on central authorities for data storage and processing, Web3 aims to empower users with more control over their data and interactions. It enables peer-to-peer transactions, smart contracts, and decentralized applications (dApps) on public blockchains, fostering transparency, security, and privacy [30,31]. With Web3, users can directly interact with blockchain networks, manage their digital assets, and participate in decentralized governance. ...
Blockchainsand smart contracts are pivotal in transforming interactions between systems and individuals, offering secure, immutable, and transparent trust-building mechanisms without central oversight. However, Smart Contracts face limitations due to their reliance on blockchain-contained data, a gap addressed by ’Oracles’. These bridges to external data sources introduce the ’Oracle problem’, where maintaining blockchain-like security and transparency becomes vital to prevent data integrity issues. This paper presents Veritas, a novel decentralized oracle system leveraging a layer-2 scaling solution, enhancing smart contracts’ efficiency and security on Ethereum blockchains. The proposed architecture, explored through simulation and experimental analyses, significantly reduces operational costs while maintaining robust security protocols. An innovative node selection process is also introduced to minimize the risk of malicious data entry, thereby reinforcing network security. Veritas offers a solution to the Oracle problem by aligning with blockchain principles of security and transparency, and demonstrates advancements in reducing operational costs and bolstering network integrity. While the study provides a promising direction, it also highlights potential areas for further exploration in blockchain technology and oracle system optimization.
... Two of the included articles had not yet undergone peer review at the time of data collection [52,53]. Two of the included publications were published by the same first author [54,55], who was also a co-author of another included publication [43]. An overview of the identified scholarly publications is presented in Table 3. ...
Rapid advancements in Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), including blockchain, are foundational to a new era of digital
innovation. This innovation has catalyzed the emergence of ‘Decentralized Science (DeSci),’ a new concept and movement that aims to address the challenges of modern science. Given the novelty of the field of DeSci, this study aims to provide a comprehensive definition of the term as well as explore and conceptualize shared values and guiding principles inherent to DeSci. In line with the objectives of this study, an exploratory literature review was conducted to identify and synthesize the scholarly and secondary literature. The search and selection process included six databases (PubMed, Google Scholar, Web of Science, IEEE Xplore, arXiv, and Social Science Research Network), and the search period was limited to the last 15 years, from 2008 to 2023. Owing to the novelty of the concept and movement of DeSci, the exploratory literature review was supplemented by an anonymous online-based expert survey using a combination of single-choice and open-ended questions. The experts were selected based on predefined inclusion criteria, in association with their activities in the field of DeSci. Seven studies were selected for evaluation as part of the search and selection process to identify relevant scholarly literature. Following the review of secondary literature, additional 24 publications were included in the analysis. In the expert survey, 39 valid datasets were collected and analyzed. Following the synthesis of the results of the exploratory literature review and expert survey, a comprehensive definition of the term ‘Decentralized Science’ (DeSci) was formulated to reflect recurring themes. As no publications that explicitly discussed or addressed the values or principles of DeSci in the exploratory literature review could be identified, a set of shared values and guiding principles for DeSci were defined based on the results of the expert survey. While this study proposes a comprehensive definition of DeSci as well as a set of shared values and guiding principles, the results of this study highlight the importance for future research.
Since the first appearance of the World Wide Web, individuals have increasingly relied on the Internet for cyber social activities. The second phase of the World Wide Web, known as Web 2.0, has extensively attracted worldwide people who participate in creating and enjoying the virtual realm. Today, the next Internet revolution, Web3, will open new opportunities for conventional social models. The decentralization property of Web3 is capable of breaking the monopoly of Internet corporations. Moreover, Web3 will lead to a paradigm shift from the Web functioning solely as a publishing medium to one that fosters intensive interaction and participation. This shift will profoundly influence the interactions between users and platforms, relationships within production networks, and global economic models. As a result, it is necessary that this article technically, practically, and more broadly take an overview of Web3. This article presents a comprehensive survey of Web3, focusing on current technologies, challenges, opportunities, and outlook. This article first introduces several key technologies underlying Web3. Then, some types of Web3 applications (e.g., blockchain) are illustrated in detail. Blockchain and smart contracts ensure decentralized organizations are less trusted and more truthful than centralized ones. Decentralized finance will be global, and open with financial inclusiveness for unbanked people. This article also discusses the relationship between the Metaverse and Web3, including the differences and similarities between Web 3.0 and Web3. Drawing inspiration from Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory, a novel hierarchy of needs theory within Web3 is proposed. Finally, several worthwhile future research directions of Web3 are discussed.
The preceding chapters give an overview on the advancements of AI in fields such as mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry, materials science, medicine, and astronomy. While these selected works represent only a portion of the progress made in AI for Sciences (AI4S) in recent years, these breakthroughs are truly thrilling. On the other hand, as a rapidly evolving field, AI4S encounters numerous challenges. Hence, the establishment of a robust and sustainable ecosystem is paramount. Despite its significance, the AI4S ecosystem often remains overlooked. This chapter delves into AI ecology and sustainable development issues, examining them through the lenses of Decentralized Science (DeSci), Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), Blockchain Technology, and Foundational Intelligence.
With the emergence of web2.0 the internet experienced a transformative shift in the sectors of organization and sharing of data. This era introduced interactive and user-generated content-based platforms which allowed communications and information to become bidirectional between clients and servers. It also revealed several vulnerabilities that arose from the intermediary dependency and central control. Web3.0 is the next step in this evolution of the internet that offers a promising decentralized, user-centric, and secure digital ecosystem. The core enabling technology of this evolution is blockchain, a distributed and immutable ledger that has extended its influence in recent years far beyond the realm of digital currencies to become a fundamental component of web3.0. This chapter explores the merging of blockchain and web3.0 to create an integrated digital landscape that overcomes previous vulnerabilities, practical strategies of integration, combined impact and diverse use cases such as DeFi, DApps and DAO.
As the next generation of the internet, Web 3.0 is expected to revolutionize the Internet and enable users to have greater control over their data and privacy. Federated learning (FL) enables data to be usable yet invisible during its use, thereby facilitating the transfer of data ownership and value. However, the issues of data size and blockchain computing power are of paramount importance for FL in Web 3.0. Due to the openness of Web 3.0, individuals can freely join or leave training and adjust data size, creating population uncertainty and making it difficult to design incentive mechanisms. Therefore, we propose a Poisson game-based FL incentive mechanism that motivates participants to contribute more data and computing power, considering the variability of data size and computing power requirements, and provides a feasible solution to the uncertainty of the number of participants using a Poisson game model. Additionally, our proposed FL architecture in Web 3.0 integrates FL with Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAO), utilizing smart contracts for contribution calculation and revenue distribution. This enables an open, free, and autonomous federated learning environment. Experimental evaluation shows that our incentive mechanism is feasible in blockchain with efficiency, robustness, and low overhead.
NFTs are non-fungible tokens. Like cryptocurrencies, they appeared as a result of the formation of the blockchain. True, unlike, say, Bitcoin, each NFT is unique and has its own value. If one conventional cryptocurrency unit does not differ in any way from another similar one (for example, one Ethereum does not differ in any way from another and is completely interchangeable without loss of value), then the situation is different with NFT. Tokens are used to secure rights to a unique object, such as a digitized work of art or artifacts in video games. Tokens are stored in the blockchain and contain the address of the object. To store the metadata and media to which the tokens are assigned, the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) file system distributed over many computers is most often used. Farcana has suggested applying the same principle to scientific research. By introducing the MetaDeSci, Farcana has created a space where the gamers, gaming platforms, investors, scientists and universities are capable of using the rNFT to finance research, share data and promote science altogether, maintaining transparency.
Decentralized autonomous organization (DAO)-based applications can revolutionize traditional centralized decision-making procedures and services by enabling scalable, decentralized, autonomous, and democratized decision-making processes. Unlike traditional applications, DAO-based decentralized applications use Ethereum blockchain-based smart contract programs to execute policies or make automated decisions. To that end, 6 G technologies can improve the latency and reliability of many existing blockchain-based DAOs. Previous research did not investigate the execution of DAO and non-DAO-based applications, as well as an adaptive resource choreography scheme, while accounting for various 6 G technologies, blockchain, and mobile-edge cloud (MEC). To prevail over the previous shortcomings, this article supplies a street smart multi-platform coordination, application scheduling, and low-latency-aware resource choreography scheme for both DAO and non-DAO-based application execution over blockchain and MEC-enabled 6 G networks by taking heterogenous DAO and non-DAO application count, application requirements, physical worker, virtual worker, and communication resource status into account. The results verified that the proposed kaizen scheme delivers at least 11.26% app work completion delay gain, 7.2% user energy overhead gain, 6.55% user economic charge gain, and 21% service provider profit than the compared schemes.
Based on an investigation of online public opinion on the Nahel Merzouk protests in France, an approach for analysing and predicting public opinion on protests based on large language model (LLM) is proposed, revealing the impact of emerging social media on the protests. We demonstrate that protests generate public opinion on social media with some lag, but that comment sentiment and expression are consistent with protest trends. As the protests unfolded, we analyzed the evolution of public sentiment. We constructed the prompt based on historical data to predict the protests using the p-tuning and Lora approach to fine-tune LLM. In addition, we discuss how to use blockchain technology to optimize distributed, self-organizing protests and reduce the potential for disinformation and violent conflict.
Objective: this study aims to review the literature on DAOs in business administration and propose a framework for DAOs compared to the key features of market, hierarchy, and network governance forms and avenues for future research.
Methods: we performed a systematic literature review in Scopus and Web of Science databases and identified 69 articles on DAOs published in or before March 2024 in the field of business and management.
Results: we describe the main characteristics, opportunities, and challenges for DAOs. Our study also discusses how DAOs can be further explored and how they may or may not fit in different governance and organizational forms.
Conclusions: we conclude by offering several guidelines to researchers who want to comprehend the phenomena of DAOs and contribute to theory and practice in business administration.
The metaverse, along with its various Web 3.0 sub-domains, represents a ground-breaking extension of the physical and digital worlds. In this emerging landscape, real and virtual worlds are being integrated in ways that facilitate interaction and create immersive experiences. This transformation has significant implications for diverse fields, particularly in reshaping both online and traditional education methods. By analyzing 417 comprehensive white papers released in 2022 and 2023 from leading consulting firms and think tanks, and incorporating insights from canonical academic articles, the authors extract key information about how metaverse technologies are influencing education. This investigation unveils some of the key impacts of metaverse technologies on the educational landscape, thereby contributing to a more profound understanding of its transformative effects. The present study provides a holistic perspective on the advantages and disadvantages associated with metaverse education, offering in-depth insights on the challenges involved in a potentially seamless integration with conventional practices. In sum, this research highlights the challenges and opportunities presented by the metaverse and its impact on new educational paradigms.
Web3 is a revolutionary Internet paradigm that focusing decentralization, user empowerment, and intelligence. One of its key technologies is decentralized identity (DID), which has gained significant attention recently. However, existing DID solutions are not scalable enough to be compatible with the large-scale identity node applications required by Web3 across various fields. To overcome this challenge, we propose the first multi-layer Web3 DID architecture utilizing sharding blockchain, which provides management, scalability, and compatibility. This architecture leverages leader shards and the main chain to establish trust, while regular shards manage DID-related transactions. Specific system processes and query optimizations are also given. Besides, formal security analysis and comprehensive simulation evaluations have demonstrated that the architecture can achieve all proposed security and performance goals, including low latency of down to 2 seconds and high throughput of up to 90KTPS.
The latest developments in parallel driving foreshadow the possibility of delivering intelligence across organizations using foundation models. As is well-known, there are limitations in scenario acquisition in the field of intelligent vehicles (IV), such as efficiency, diversity, and complexity, which hinder in-depth research of vehicle intelligence. To address this issue, this manuscript draws inspiration from scenarios engineering, parallel driving and introduces a pioneering framework for scenario generation, leveraging the ChatGPT, denoted as SeGPT. Within this framework, we define a trajectory scenario and design prompts engineering to generate complex and challenging scenarios. Furthermore, SeGPT, in combination with “Three Modes”, foundation models, vehicle operating system, and other advanced infrastructure, holds the potential to achieve higher levels of autonomous driving. Experimental outcomes substantiate SeGPT's adeptness in producing a spectrum of varied scenarios, underscoring its potential to augment the development of trajectory prediction algorithms. These findings mark significant progress in the domain of scenario generation, also pointing towards new directions in the research of vehicle intelligence and scenarios engineering.
“Read-write-own” based Web3 has been proposed as a promising user-centric Internet to open the new generation of the World Wide Web, where Web3 users can independently manage data and derive value from creating content without relying on intermediaries. Connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) in Web3 can trade models in a self-controlled and decentralized credible way, which is a fundamentally and principally innovation based on novel architecture. Effectively implementing such paradigms involves proper model trading strategies. However, reinforcement learning (RL)-based strategies face challenges of poor generalization ability, low feasibility, and the exploration-exploitation dilemma. It is also difficult to define an explicit and appropriate reward function. Therefore, in this paper, we propose an intelligence-based reinforcement learning (IRL) approach for CAVs in Web3. We present a framework to enable model transactions between CAVs. Also, we provide a decentralized identifier (DID)-based identity management system for resource description and data verification to access Web3, followed by the mechanism and supporting smart contracts. Furthermore, we formulate the model trading issue as an active inference to form higher-level cognition about the environment without rewards. Then we use IRL to solve it. And we use “intelligence”, a high-level indicator, to quantify the efficiency of such cognition. It can evaluate the difference between the predicted state and the real state in policy exploration. The proposed scheme shows good generalization and can auto-balance exploration and exploitation, simultaneously achieving outperforming performance on the model trading issue with no rewards. In simulations, the performance of the proposed scheme is compared with existing methods.
This article discusses the impact and significance of the autonomous science movement and the role and potential uses of intelligent technology in DAO-based decentralized science (DeSci) organizations and operations. What is DeSci? How does it relate the science of team science? What are its potential contributions to multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and/or transdisciplinary studies? Does it have any correspondence to the social movement organizations in traditional social sciences or the cyber movement organizations in the new digital age? Particularly, issues on DeSci to current professional communities, such as IEEE and its societies, conferences, and publications, are addressed, and the effort for the framework and process of DAO-based DeSci for free, fair, and responsibility sensitive sciences is reviewed.
The paper is devoted to the investigation of the distributed proof generation process, which makes use of recursive zk-SNARKs. Such distributed proof generation, where recursive zk-SNARK-proofs are organized in perfect Mercle trees, was for the first time proposed in Latus consensus protocol for zk-SNARKs-based sidechains. We consider two models of a such proof generation process: the simplified one, where all proofs are independent (like one level of tree), and its natural generation, where proofs are organized in partially ordered set (poset), according to tree structure. Using discrete Markov chains for modeling of corresponding proof generation process, we obtained the recurrent formulas for the expectation and variance of the number of steps needed to generate a certain number of independent proofs by a given number of provers. We asymptotically represent the expectation as a function of the one variable n/m, where n is the number of provers m is the number of proofs (leaves of tree). Using results obtained, we give numerical recommendation about the number of transactions, which should be included in the current block, idepending on the network parameters, such as time slot duration, number of provers, time needed for proof generation, etc.
Science and technology develop not only along historical trajectories, but also as next-order regimes that periodically change the landscape. Regimes can incur on trajectories which are then disrupted. Using citations and references for the operationalization, we discuss and quantify both the recently proposed “disruption indicator” and the older indicator for “critical transitions” among reference lists as changes which may necessitate a rewriting of history. We elaborate this with three examples in order to provide a proof of concept. We shall show how the indicators can be calculated using Web-of-Science data. The routine is automated (available at < http://www.leydesdorff.net/software/di/index.htm >) so that it can be upscaled in future research. We suggest that “critical transitions” can be used to indicate disruption at the regime level, whereas disruption is developed at the trajectory level. Both conceptually and empirically, however, continuity is grasped more easily than disruption.
Both sharing and using open research data have the revolutionary potentials for forwarding scientific advancement. Although previous research gives insight into researchers’ drivers and inhibitors for sharing and using open research data, both these drivers and inhibitors have not yet been integrated via a thematic analysis and a theoretical argument is lacking. This study’s purpose is to systematically review the literature on individual researchers’ drivers and inhibitors for sharing and using open research data. This study systematically analyzed 32 open data studies (published between 2004 and 2019 inclusively) and elicited drivers plus inhibitors for both open research data sharing and use in eleven categories total that are: ‘the researcher’s background’, ‘requirements and formal obligations’, ‘personal drivers and intrinsic motivations’, ‘facilitating conditions’, ‘trust’, ‘expected performance’, ‘social influence and affiliation’, ‘effort’, ‘the researcher’s experience and skills’, ‘legislation and regulation’, and ‘data characteristics.’ This study extensively discusses these categories, along with argues how such categories and factors are connected using a thematic analysis. Also, this study discusses several opportunities for altogether applying, extending, using, and testing theories in open research data studies. With such discussions, an overview of identified categories and factors can be further applied to examine both researchers’ drivers and inhibitors in different research disciplines, such as those with low rates of data sharing and use versus disciplines with high rates of data sharing plus use. What’s more, this study serves as a first vital step towards developing effective incentives for both open data sharing and use behavior.
Products and services empowered by artificial intelligence (AI) are becoming widespread in today’s marketplace. However, consumers have mixed feelings about AI technologies due to the numerous ethical challenges associated the development and deployment of AI. Drawing upon prior research on the moral significance of technology and the emerging literature on AI, we delineate three key dimensions of AI-enabled products (i.e., multi-functionality, interactivity, and AI intelligence stage) that have relevance for ethical implications and adopt a socio-technical approach to provide a multi-layered ethical analysis of AI products at the product-, consumer-, and society-levels. Some key ethical issues identified in the paper include AI biases, ethical design, consumer privacy, cybersecurity, individual autonomy and wellbeing, and unemployment. Companies need to engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR) to shape the future of ethical AI; drawing upon stakeholder theory and institutional theory, we develop a conceptual framework on AI-related CSR, highlighting the product-, company-, and institutional environment-specific factors that influence firms’ socially responsible actions in the domain of AI and discussing the subsequent outcomes for firm, consumers, and the society. We include a section on future research agenda for AI ethics and firm CSR in this important domain.
This paper reviews the recent case of The DAO “hack” in June 2016 and analyzes The DAO's response in its time of crisis, and its implications for corporate and IT governance. There was no human-led governance in The DAO. Instead, The DAO placed its trust in the smart contract they had built together on the blockchain, which became its governance mechanism. The events that follow allow us to see hitherto unobservable organizational behaviors that are unique to trustless organizations, and hence The DAO gives us a glimpse at a new species of corporate governance. This paper explores the implications of these ideas: we propose the emergence of a spectrum of organizations based on the alienation of trust, we consider the economic impact and legality of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), smart contracts, work and job design, and what happens when corporate governance is managed solely by IT governance.
The rapid development of digital technologies such as blockchain and distributed ledger-based systems holds transformative potential for the financial sector. Promising applications include asset management as well as peer-to-peer networks for the transparent exchange of data and information. International climate finance stands to benefit in particular ways from these new opportunities in financial technology. Distributed ledger technologies could be leveraged to support climate action, for example by facilitating transparent and standardized transactions, or by enabling more efficient monitoring and accreditation processes. In view of these promising opportunities, we focus our inquiry on the case of the Green Climate Fund to explore how distributed ledger technologies can be used for innovative climate finance. Based on our analysis of different digital system models and potential use cases, we then discuss some of the technical and political challenges that may arise, for example with regard to standards and safeguards, governance processes, country ownership, and further capitalization. Our findings show that distributed ledger-based systems could benefit the work of the fund in key areas such as multi-stakeholder coordination and impact assessment. However, our analysis also points to the concrete limitations of technology driven solutions. Digital technologies are not a standalone solution to persistent resource allocation and governance challenges in international climate finance, especially because the design and deployment of these digital systems is inherently political.
Anecdotes abound regarding the decline of basic research in industrial and governmental settings, but very little empirical evidence exists about the phenomenon. This article provides a systematic and historical analysis of the contribution of various institutional sectors to knowledge production at the world and country levels across the past four decades. It highlights a dramatic decline in the diffusion of basic research by industrial and governmental sectors across all countries—with a corresponding increase in the share from universities—as well as an increase of partnerships between universities and other sectors. Results also shows an increase in the relative share of industries in applied research, as measured through patents. Such divergence in university and industry research activities may hinder industries’ ability to translate basic knowledge into technological innovation, and could lead to a growing misalignment between doctoral training and future job expectations. Industries and universities must rethink strategies for partnerships and publishing to maximize scientific progress and to ensure the greatest gains for society.
Federal funding for basic scientific research is the cornerstone of societal progress, economy, health and well-being. There is a direct relationship between financial investment in science and a nation’s scientific discoveries, making it a priority for governments to distribute public funding appropriately in support of the best science. However, research grant proposal success rate and funding level can be skewed toward certain groups of applicants, and such skew may be driven by systemic bias arising during grant proposal evaluation and scoring. Policies to best redress this problem are not well established. Here, we show that funding success and grant amounts for applications to Canada’s Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Discovery Grant program (2011–2014) are consistently lower for applicants from small institutions. This pattern persists across applicant experience levels, is consistent among three criteria used to score grant proposals, and therefore is interpreted as representing systemic bias targeting applicants from small institutions. When current funding success rates are projected forward, forecasts reveal that future science funding at small schools in Canada will decline precipitously in the next decade, if skews are left uncorrected. We show that a recently-adopted pilot program to bolster success by lowering standards for select applicants from small institutions will not erase funding skew, nor will several other post-evaluation corrective measures. Rather, to support objective and robust review of grant applications, it is necessary for research councils to address evaluation skew directly, by adopting procedures such as blind review of research proposals and bibliometric assessment of performance. Such measures will be important in restoring confidence in the objectivity and fairness of science funding decisions. Likewise, small institutions can improve their research success by more strongly supporting productive researchers and developing competitive graduate programming opportunities.
The goal of computational awareness (CA)research is to build systems that are aware. Awareness is related to a system's ability to perceive, feel, or develop conscious experiences. For cybernetics, the study of awareness is fundamental.
It has been argued that the Internet and social
media increase the number of available viewpoints, perspectives,
ideas and opinions available, leading to a very
diverse pool of information. However, critics have argued
that algorithms used by search engines, social networking
platforms and other large online intermediaries actually
decrease information diversity by forming so-called ‘‘filter
bubbles’’. This may form a serious threat to our democracies.
In response to this threat others have developed
algorithms and digital tools to combat filter bubbles. This
paper first provides examples of different software designs
that try to break filter bubbles. Secondly, we show how
norms required by two democracy models dominate the
tools that are developed to fight the filter bubbles, while
norms of other models are completely missing in the tools.
The paper in conclusion argues that democracy itself is a
contested concept and points to a variety of norms.
Designers of diversity enhancing tools must thus be
exposed to diverse conceptions of democracy
In the mid-1980s, social scientists compared outcome measures of related drug studies, some funded by private companies and others by nonprofit organizations or government agencies. The concept of a "funding effect" was coined when it was discovered that study outcomes could be statistically correlated with funding sources, largely in drug safety and efficacy studies. Also identified in tobacco research and chemical toxicity studies, the "funding effect" is often attributed, implicitly or explicitly, to research bias. This article discusses the meaning of scientific bias in research, examines the strongest evidence for the "funding effect," and explores the question of whether the "funding effect" is an indicator of biased research that is driven by the financial interests of the for-profit sponsor. This article argues that the "funding effect" is merely a symptom of the factors that could be responsible for outcome disparities in product assessment. Social scientists should not suspend their skepticism and choose as a default hypothesis that bias is always or typically the cause.
National activities to protect the natural environment are on the rise. Conventional explanations of the phenomenon emphasize domestic processes, set in motion by environmental degradation and economic affluence. We propose instead a top-down causal imagery that hinges on a global redefinition of the 'nation-state' to include environmental protection as a basic state responsibility. We test our view using event-history analyses of five indicators of environmentalization: The proliferation of (1) national parks, (2) chapters of international environmental associations, (3) memberships in inter-governmental environmental organizations, (4) environmental impact assessment laws, and (5) environmental ministries in countries around the world over the twentieth century. For all five measures, the top-down global explanation proves stronger than the bottom-up domestic alternative: The global institutionalization of the principle that nation-states bear responsibility for environmental protection drives national activities to protect the environment. This is especially true in countries with dense ties to world society and prolific 'receptor sites,' even when controlling for domestic degradation and affluence. It appears that blueprints of nation-state environmentalization, which themselves become more universalistic over time, are drawn in world society before being diffused to and enacted by individual countries.
Centralization has dominated classic scientific, social, and economic developments. Decentralization has also received increasing attention in management, decision, governance, and economics, despite its incomparability in AI. Going beyond centralized and distributed AI, this article reviews and delineates the conceptual map, research issues, and technical opportunities of decentralized AI and edge intelligence. The complementarity and metasynthesis between centralized and decentralized AI are also elaborated. We further assess where decentralized AI and edge intelligence can enable and promote smart blockchain, Web3, metaverse and decentralized science disciplinarily, technically, practically, and more broadly.
Welcome to the third issue of IEEE Transactions on Computational Social Systems (TCSS) of 2022. According to the latest update of CiteScoreTracker from Elsevier Scopus released on April 6, 2022, the CitesSore of IEEE TCSS has reached a historical high of 8.4. Many thanks to all for your great effort and support.
Numerous studies show that gender-based bias affects the distribution of research funding, with researcher-focused assessments being particularly prone to bias. Considering the negative impact on science when bias intrudes on funding decisions, granting agencies need to improve their efforts to document, monitor and reduce it.
Welcome to the first issue of the IEEE Transactions on Computational Social Systems (TCSS) of 2022. We would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere thanks to our associate editors, reviewers, authors, and readers for your great support and effort devoted to IEEE TCSS. Happy New Year to you all, and cheers to health, happiness, and high-producing in 2022!
The prosperity of the cryptocurrency ecosystem drives the need for digital asset trading platforms. Beyond centralized exchanges (CEXs), decentralized exchanges (DEXs) are introduced to allow users to trade cryptocurrency without transferring the custody of their digital assets to the middlemen, thus eliminating the security and privacy issues of traditional CEX. Uniswap, as the most prominent cryptocurrency DEX, is continuing to attract scammers, with fraudulent cryptocurrencies flooding in the ecosystem. In this paper, we take the first step to detect and characterize scam tokens on Uniswap. We first collect all the transactions related to Uniswap V2 exchange and investigate the landscape of cryptocurrency trading on Uniswap from different perspectives. Then, we propose an accurate approach for flagging scam tokens on Uniswap based on a guilt-by-association heuristic and a machine-learning powered technique. We have identified over 10K scam tokens listed on Uniswap, which suggests that roughly 50% of the tokens listed on Uniswap are scam tokens. All the scam tokens and liquidity pools are created specialized for the "rug pull" scams, and some scam tokens have embedded tricks and backdoors in the smart contracts. We further observe that thousands of collusion addresses help carry out the scams in league with the scam token/pool creators. The scammers have gained a profit of at least $16 million from 39,762 potential victims. Our observations in this paper suggest the urgency to identify and stop scams in the decentralized finance ecosystem, and our approach can act as a whistleblower that identifies scam tokens at their early stages.
Welcome to the fifth issue of Ieee Transactions on Computational Social Systems (TCSS) of 2021. As usual, we would like to share some great news first. Since April 2021, IEEE TCSS has been added to the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) database in Clarivate Web of Science. We are excited to report that all TCSS articles published since 2018 have been backtracked and indexed by SCIE.
Welcome to the fourth issue of IEEE Transactions on Computational Social Systems (TCSS) this year. I am excited to share some great news.
This paper aims to provide a mathematical representation and computational framework for parallel systems and the ACP approach, which are also applicable to digital systems. Based on the system state equation methodology, the dual real-virtual system representation for parallel systems is presented, based on which the parallel system problem is described in mathematical forms. Further, the computational framework for the ACP approach, which explain in details the mathematical processes for artificial systems (A), computational experiments (C) and parallel execution (P). Based on the ACP approach framework, concepts such as "learning and training", "experiments and evaluation", "management and control" are mapped into ACP's mathematical computational framework, as well as related concepts such as AFC (Agile- Focus-Convergence) and "small data, big data, small intelligence". The synergy of parallel system framework and artificial intelligence technology is also discussed and investigated, leading to the origin and implications of "parallel intelligence". A campus-wide energy management problem with considerations of human factors is utilized as an illustrative example of applying the parallel system mathematical representation and computational framework in power and energy systems.
Welcome to the second issue of IEEE Transactions on Computational Social Systems (TCSS) this year. First, I am grateful to report that, as of February 7, 2021, the
Citescore
of TCSS has leapfrogged back to 5.8, a new high, which indicates the high quality and relevance of IEEE TCSS in the field of social computing and computational social systems research. Many thanks to all of you for your great effort and support.
Welcome to the last issue of IEEE Transactions on Computational Social Systems (TCSS) this year. This is also the last time I am serving as the Editor-in-Chief of this great journal, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your great help and support during the last three and half years. A special thank must go to my “Executive Editorial Task Force”: Professor Yong Yuan of People’s University of China; Drs. Rui Qin, Xiao Wang, and Xueliang Zhao of The State Key Laboratory for Management and Control of Complex Systems, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences; and Dr. Juanjuan Li of Beijing Institute of Technology, for their hardworking and dedication within my term as EiC. We have rejuvenated TCSS in a very short period and maintained its state of healthy growth, and this is a great team I must remember and will be proud of.
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics: Systems, this article examines and reports on its past to current topical coverage of systems science and engineering toward exploring the evolving focus of the research community. Results of a systematic bibliometric analysis are presented with associated conclusions, implications, and summary of topical areas. In addition, respective views regarding the current state of the field and where it is headed are offered by recent leaders of the IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society, including its continued relevance and role in the advancement of systems technology.
Welcome to the new issue of IEEE Transactions on Computational Social Systems (TCSS). First of all, on behalf of the Board of Governors and Prof. Enrique Herrera Viedma, Vice President for Publication, of the IEEE SMCS, I would like to announce and introduce the new Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE TCSS, Prof. Bin Hu, our Associate Editor since 2017 and a member of BoG since 2018. Currently, Bin Hu is the Director of the Gansu Provincial Key Laboratory of Wearable Computing, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China, and an Adjunct Professor with the Computing Department, The Open University, Milton Keynes, U.K. He is the Chair of the IEEE SMC Technical Committee on Computational Psychophysiology at IEEE SMC and the Vice- Chair of the China Committee of the International Society for Social Neuroscience. He is also serving as an Associate Editor for IEEE Transaction on Affective Computing. I am sure that IEEE TCSS will march to a new level of excellence under Prof. Bin Hu’s leadership. Congratulations to him and TCSS for the beginning of a new chapter!
Traditional organization management typically follows a top-down pyramid structure, which is widely believed to have many problems in releasing innovation potentials. In the new era of intelligent technologies, knowledge automation is required to meet the urgent demand for rapid acquisition and application of knowledge. With the rapidly deepened integration of the real world and the virtual society, cyber-physical-social system (CPSS)-oriented parallel management proves to be an effective and efficient way in solving these problems. In this article, we utilize blockchain technology and smart contracts in knowledge automation and investigate blockchain-based knowledge automation, which can be used for CPSS-oriented parallel management. We also propose a management framework based on the smart contract and discuss a case study.
We propose to apply the Generalized Second Price (GSP) auction mechanism in the dynamic confirmation game on Bitcoin transactions. Our model is targeted to deal with the instability and low efficiency of the currently-adopted Generalized First Price (GFP) mechanism. Besides, we use the "rank-by-cost" rule to replace the "rank-by-fee" rule, where each transaction's cost is calculated by the fee and the waiting time. Aiming to probe users' equilibrium strategy, we first discuss the GSP game with complete information under synchronous submissions, and show that it has the Locally Envy-Free equilibrium. Then, we study the GSP game with incomplete information under asynchronous submissions, and define two types of strategies, i.e. the Farsighted Balanced (FB) strategy and the Instant Balanced (IB) strategy. The FB strategy is in line with users' needs of maximizing the long-term payoffs; however it cannot generate a stable equilibrium. Alternatively, the IB strategy focuses on the instant payoff maximization, and if all users follow the IB strategy, their equilibrium fees can finally converge to a stable profile. Finally, we design computational experiments to validate our theoretical analysis, and results indicate that this GSP mechanism is superior to the GFP mechanism, and it can converge under the IB strategy.
After decades of debate on the feasibility of open access (OA) to scientific publications, we may be nearing a tipping point. A number of recent developments, such as Plan S, suggest that OA upon publication could become the default in the sciences within the next several years. Despite uncertainty about the long-term sustainability of OA models, many publishers who had been reluctant to abandon the subscription business model are showing openness to OA (1). Although more OA can mean more immediate, global access to scholarship, there remains a need for practical, sustainable models, for careful analysis of the consequences of business model choices, and for “caution in responding to passionate calls for a ‘default to open’” (2). Of particular concern for the academic community, as subscription revenues decline in the transition to OA and some publishers prioritize other sources of revenue, is the growing ownership of data analytics, hosting, and portal services by large scholarly publishers. This may enhance publishers' ability to lock in institutional customers through combined offerings that condition open access to journals upon purchase of other services. Even if such “bundled” arrangements have a near-term benefit of increasing openly licensed scholarship, they may run counter to long-term interests of the academic community by reducing competition and the diversity of service offerings. The healthy functioning of the academic community, including fair terms and conditions from commercial partners, requires that the global marketplace for data analytics and knowledge infrastructure be kept open to real competition.
Welcome to the first issue of the IEEE Transactions on Computational Social Systems (TCSS) of 2020, and Happy New Year to You! We would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere thanks to our editors, reviewers, authors, and readers for your great support and effort devoted to the TCSS, along with our best wish and hope that everyone has a happy, healthy, and fruitful 2020.
Bitcoin is gaining ground in recent years. In the Bitcoin system, miners provide computing power to confirm transactions and mine blocks in pursuit of transaction fees, while users compete by bidding transaction fees for faster confirmation. This process is in essence analogous to online ad auctions, where advertisers bid for more prominent ad slots. Therefore, inspired by the Generalized Second Price (GSP) mechanism dominantly used in online ad auctions, we propose to adopt the GSP auction model in the Bitcoin transaction confirmation game. Also, we use weighted fees as the new ranking basis, which can be calculated by user-submitted fees, transaction size, quality scores and virtual fees accumulated from the waiting time. We show that the formulated static GSP transaction fee auction with complete information has a unique Pure Strategy Nash Equilibrium. Then, we discuss the impacts of quality scores and virtual fees on users' equilibrium fee decisions and payoffs. Finally, computational experiments are designed to validate our theoretical models and analysis. Our research findings indicate that this novel GSP mechanism is superior to the currently adopted GFP mechanism, and can help users save fees. Besides, quality scores and virtual fees are also proven to be effective on reducing users' paid fees. Moreover, the design of virtual fees allows all transactions to be processed more efficiently in a uniform pipeline, and the interests of transactions with and without associated fees are taken into consideration.
Decentralized autonomy is a long-standing research topic in information sciences and social sciences. The self-organization phenomenon in natural ecosystems, the Cyber Movement Organizations (CMOs) on the Internet, and the Distributed Artificial Intelligence (DAI), and so on, can all be regarded as its early manifestations. In recent years, the rapid development of blockchain technology has spawned the emergence of the so-called Decentralized Autonomous Organization [DAO, sometimes labeled as Decentralized Autonomous Corporation (DAC)], which is a new organization form that the management and operational rules are typically encoded on blockchain in the form of smart contracts, and can autonomously operate without centralized control or third-party intervention. DAO is expected to overturn the traditional hierarchical management model and significantly reduce organizations' costs on communication, management, and collaboration. However, DAO still faces many challenges, such as security and privacy issue, unclear legal status, and so on. In this article, we strive to present a systematic introduction of DAO, including its concept and characteristics, research framework, typical implementations, challenges, and future trends. Especially, a novel reference model for DAO which employs a five-layer architecture is proposed. This article is aimed at providing helpful guidance and reference for future research efforts.
Open science has recently gained traction as establishment institutions have come on-side and thrown their weight behind the movement and initiatives aimed at creation of information commons. At the same time, the movement's traditional insistence on unrestricted dissemination and reuse of all information of scientific value has been challenged by the movement to strengthen protection of personal data. This article assesses tensions between open science and data protection, with a focus on the GDPR.
In recent years, the rapid development of cryptocurrencies and their underlying blockchain technology has revived Szabo's original idea of smart contracts, i.e., computer protocols that are designed to automatically facilitate, verify, and enforce the negotiation and implementation of digital contracts without central authorities. Smart contracts can find a wide spectrum of potential application scenarios in the digital economy and intelligent industries, including financial services, management, healthcare, and Internet of Things, among others, and also have been integrated into the mainstream blockchain-based development platforms, such as Ethereum and Hyperledger. However, smart contracts are still far from mature, and major technical challenges such as security and privacy issues are still awaiting further research efforts. For instance, the most notorious case might be "The DAO Attack" in June 2016, which led to more than $50 million Ether transferred into an adversary's account. In this paper, we strive to present a systematic and comprehensive overview of blockchain-enabled smart contracts, aiming at stimulating further research toward this emerging research area. We first introduced the operating mechanism and mainstream platforms of blockchain-enabled smart contracts, and proposed a research framework for smart contracts based on a novel six-layer architecture. Second, both the technical and legal challenges, as well as the recent research progresses, are listed. Third, we presented several typical application scenarios. Toward the end, we discussed the future development trends of smart contracts. This paper is aimed at providing helpful guidance and reference for future research efforts.
Why do we divide our world into contraries? Why do we perceive and interpret so many of life's contraries as mutually exclusive, either/or dichotomies such as individual~collective, self~other, body~mind, nature~nurture, cooperation~competition? Throughout history, many have recognized that truth may well lie in between such polar opposites. In The Complementary Nature, Scott Kelso and David Engstrøm contend that ubiquitous contraries are complementary and propose a comprehensive, empirically based scientific theory of how the polarized world and the world in between can be reconciled. They nominate the tilde, or squiggle (~), as the symbolic punctuation for reconciled complementary pairs.
Experiments show that the human brain is capable of displaying two apparently contradictory, mutually exclusive behaviors at the same time. Coordination dynamics—a mathematically expressed theory that reconciles the scientific language of "states" with the novel dynamical language of "tendencies"—attests to the complementary nature inherent in human brains and behavior. It may explain, Kelso and Engstrøm argue, why we (and nature) appear to partition things, events, and ideas into pairs. Kelso and Engstrøm's account is not just metaphorical; the reconciliations they describe are grounded in the principles and mathematical language of the theory of coordination dynamics. The Complementary Nature provides a clear-cut methodology for this evolving theory of brain and behavior that can also be applied to areas and developments outside the neurosciences, hence aiding reconciliations within and between disparate fields.
Bradford Books imprint
Since the increasing popularization of the emerging blockchain technology, blockchain mining has attracted more and more attention. Due to the difficulty of solo mining, typically miners choose to join a mining pool. As there are many mining pools and different mining pools may adopt different reward mechanisms, how to choose the appropriate mining pool has become one of the most important issues faced by miners, since miners can get different rewards in different pools. In practice, there are three commonly used reward mechanisms for the mining pools to distribute the reward among their miners, namely, the proportional mechanism, the pay-per-share mechanism, and the pay-per-last-
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-share mechanism. In this paper, we study the pool selection problem faced by the miners, and model it as a risk decision problem since different reward mechanisms have different risks. We establish a pool selection model based on the maximum-likelihood criterion and also study the effect of
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on the miners’ optimal pool selection decisions. By utilizing the computational experiments approach, we validate our proposed pool selection strategies. Our results can provide important managerial insights for miners when making their pool selection decisions.
Time flies fast, it has been already one year since I was appointed as the Editor-in-Chief of this great publication, and thanks to the strong support and dedication of our associate editors, editorial staff, anonymous reviewers, and authors, we have made solid progress and I really enjoy my work and our achievement so far. At this point, significant improvements in the timeliness and quality of the review process, as well as the numbers of manuscripts submitted and articles published have been accomplished.
While the open-access (OA) movement purports to be about making scholarly content open-access, its true motives are much different. The OA movement is an anti-corporatist movement that wants to deny the freedom of the press to companies it disagrees with. The movement is also actively imposing onerous mandates on researchers, mandates that restrict individual freedom. To boost the open-access movement, its leaders sacrifice the academic futures of young scholars and those from developing countries, pressuring them to publish in lower-quality open-access journals. The open-access movement has fostered the creation of numerous predatory publishers and standalone journals, increasing the amount of research misconduct in scholarly publications and the amount of pseudo-science that is published as if it were authentic science.
Important issues and methods in the investigation of cyber-enabled or enhanced social movement organizations (CeSMOs) were addressed. After a brief discussion of CeSMOs and their significance in the age of connected world and social media, concepts and approaches in social computing and parallel systems were porposed to be used for CeSMOs studies. Specifically, artificial organizations were used for modeling and representation, computational experiments were applied in analysis and evaluation, and parallel execution was utilized to monitor, control, and manage CeSMOs. Based on CeSMOs, future directions and mechanisms for social computing and parallel systems were explored. Finally, remarks were presented for potential applications of proposed research work and their impacts on societal development.