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Decentralized science (DeSci): definition, shared values, and guiding principles
Abstract
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.
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DeSci offers a promising approach to address limitations of traditional research frameworks characterized by centralized governance, restricted access to funding, and siloed knowledge dissemination.
“DeSci offers a promising approach to address some of the limitations of traditional research frameworks, characterized by centralized governance, restricted access to funding, and siloed knowledge dissemination (Weidener and Spreckelsen, 2024).”
From Adapting Mintzberg’s organizational theory to DeSci: the decentralized science pyramid framework (2024) · cites this paper as Weidener and Spreckelsen, 2024
A preceding ecosystem analysis indicated that only a limited number of DeSci DAOs are functional, based on criteria such as the issuance of governance tokens and active community-based governance processes.
“This selection is further supported by a preceding ecosystem analysis, which indicated that only a limited number of DeSci DAOs are functional, based on criteria such as the issuance of governance tokens and active community-based governance processes (Weidener and Spreckelsen, 2024).”
From Adapting Mintzberg’s organizational theory to DeSci: the decentralized science pyramid framework (2024) · cites this paper as Weidener and Spreckelsen, 2024
Adoption of fully decentralized features remains inconsistent across projects, with many blending traditional and decentralized elements to meet operational demands.
“Despite their potential, the adoption of fully decentralized features remains inconsistent across projects, with many blending traditional and decentralized elements to meet operational demands (Weidener et al., 2024).”
From Exploring the decentralized science ecosystem: insights on organizational structures, technologies, and funding (2025) · cites this paper as Weidener et al., 2024
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PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR): Checklist and Explanation
Tricco, A. C., Lillie, E., Zarin, W., O'Brien, K. K., Colquhoun, H., Levac, D., Moher, D., Peters, M. D. J., Horsley, T., Weeks, L., et al. (2018) · Annals of Internal Medicine · doi:10.7326/m18-0850 · Cited by 43,565
The state of OA: a large-scale analysis of the prevalence and impact of Open Access articles
Piwowar, H., Priem, J., Larivière, V., Alperin, J. P., Matthias, L., Norlander, B., Farley, A., West, J., & Haustein, S. (2018) · PeerJ · doi:10.7717/peerj.4375 · Cited by 1,223 · cited 1×
“…is one of the key components of open science, a signi fi cant number of articles are not publicly available without cost, indicating that further efforts are needed to fully embrace open science principles and address the remaining challenges in the scienti fi c community (Piwowar et al., 2018).”
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Adapting Mintzberg’s organizational theory to DeSci: the decentralized science pyramid framework
Weidener, L., Greilich, K., & Melnykowycz, M. (2024) · Frontiers in Blockchain · doi:10.3389/fbloc.2024.1513885 · Cited by 10
Self-citationDíaz, F., Menchaca, C., & Weidener, L. (2025) · Frontiers in Blockchain · doi:10.3389/fbloc.2025.1524222 · Cited by 8
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Metadata
- Authors
- Weidener, L., & Spreckelsen, C.
- Venue
- Frontiers in Blockchain
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media SA
- Published
- 2024-07-17
- Volume
- 7
- ISSN
- 2624-7852
- Cited by
- 26
- References
- 2
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