Could The Blockchain Stop ‘Fraudulent’ Science?

Clinical Trials Show the Blockchain Can Stop ‘Fraudulent’ Science

Manipulated and fraudulent scientific research is all too common these days, eroding “confidence in medicine as a whole which is essential to the performance of its function,” says the clinical researchers. The clinicians say that using distributed ledger technology allows a simple and cheaper way of being confident in a peer-reviewed scientific method without the need for third-party arbitration. The report states, “Transaction codes could be recorded in scientific papers, reference databases or trial registries to facilitate external verification. Making changes to pre-specified text in a document or trying to bury a protocol in a trial registry would simply not be possible.”

The paper also explains that the text of the document can be verified by generating a new public key so anyone can check to see if the peer review is legitimate. The research states, “if the key is different to the one in the blockchain then this confirms that alterations to the text have been made.”

 

Smiling at this Love Blockchain tech...

 

Revolution !
Here’s Why Blockchains Will Change the World

 

Not to diss blockchains, but this is a technical solution to a social/cultural problem involving very large reputations and egos.

 

Imagine a house made of glass, it won't stop people from WANTING to build meth labs in the garage, but that's not really a reason against it. Transparency and accountability aren't that much of a technical "solution" to anything as much as an undelayable necessity.

 

I would be the last person to argue against transparency and accountability. However this would be best served by having a registry.

Usually the text of a study is being revised until the very last day before publication and sometimes after.

A distributed ledger will introduce complications and security issues. Sorry, I just dont see how a blockchain can help with fraud.