What is Web 3.0?
Web 3.0, coined by Ethereum cofounder Gavin Wood in 2014, is the the next evolution of the internet. Unlike the current internet, known as Web 2.0, where authority and data are in the hands of companies and centralized servers, Web 3.0 is a user-controlled network, where users have absolute control over their data, activity, and identity. In a journal like JSAUR, it means that authors can explore, publish, or share content without going through a potentially malicious central authority.
Despite JSAUR currently having an administration that moderates the website and its content, we believe that the future of knowledge is purely democratic and envisions ourself to transform into a Web 3.0 environment in the near future. JSAUR plans to integrate various Web 3.0 features, ensuring a more open, secure, and fair environment for academic publishing. Below, you can explore the aspects of Web 3.0 that JSAUR will gradually integrate to transition to decentralization.
Author Validation
In a Web 3.0 network, individual authors wield significant power and responsibility. Unlike traditional journals where publications and authorship are controlled by journals or intermediaries, JSAUR authors maintain full ownership and control over their work. However, this authority means that the credibility and authenticity of academic research is also upheld by authors themselves.
At JSAUR, anyone can create an account to view and comment on open-access research. However, submitting a paper for peer-review requires verification through a Know Your Customer (KYC) process. KYC is a standard identity verification procedure used to ensure that each user is a real individual and prevents issues such as fraudulent submissions. The KYC process involves providing identification documents, which are checked by a trusted third-party service. To comply with legal guidelines, users under the legal age in their jurisdictions must have their parents or guardians verify their identities instead. Although users must validate their identities to KYC, users may choose to publish anonymously after the verification process is complete.
Given that not all students are eligible for or comfortable with the KYC process, JSAUR also allows users to publish without the KYC, where these publications will be given the same exposure opportunities as those from non-verified users. However, non-verified research is not peer-reviewed and will not be published in the peer-reviewed category in JSAUR.
Decentralized Peer-Review
While JSAUR’s mission is to create a fair and barrier-free publishing environment, we also continue to uphold the highest-standards of academic integrity. In a traditional model, peer-reviews that are conducted by the journal staff can lead to potential biases, lack of transparency, or delays. By shifting to a decentralized peer-review system, JSAUR aims to minimize bias, and create a more transparent and efficient process for evaluating research.
Under this new peer-review model, the publication process will be as follows.
- Once a verified user submits their manuscript, it enters the peer-review phase, where its content undergoes a double-blind review by three independent peers within the same discipline. During this stage, the author is also required to review at least three other articles. The reviews that the user provides to other authors’ works are publically visible, and any author on JSAUR can vote on whether the reviews are relevant and constructive, as well as whether the original author has improved their manuscript from the feedback received.
- After the author completes their responsibilities (provided three acceptable reviews, and improved manuscript from feedback), a smart contract is triggered which governs the terms under which the article can be permanently published. The contract ensures author responsibilities are met and provides the user with a guarantee of their publication.
- The user’s publication will be permanently published on JSAUR and recorded on the JSAUR blockchain. This record will contain key details of the publication, the author, as well as its reviewers. Creating a transparent and tamper-proof history of the publication.
The JSAUR blockchain contains both peer-reviewed and non peer-reviewed articles, and offers an additional layer of data protection between authors and publications in the unfortunate circumstance where the JSAUR platform might be shut down or suffer from a data loss.
Artificial Intelligence
The rise of large language models (LLMs) have marked a significant shift in how technology interacts with and supports human activities. These models, originally designed for generating human-like text, have evolved to perform logical reasoning. In a decentralized system like JSAUR, AI plays a crucial role in eliminating the need for traditional moderation by automating processes that would otherwise require human oversight.
While we recognize the power of AI, we also recognize its unpredictability in areas and its potential in making errors. At JSAUR, we prioritize the precision and reliability of our AI systems, ensuring that they are only deployed in tasks where they can perform as well as, or better than, a human expert.
Currently, JSAUR plans to integrate AI to assist in the following functions:
- Elementary manuscript feedback: Although current AI technology is not mature enough to provide accurate content-wise feedback, it is very proficient in providing suggestions in regards to vocabulary or grammar. JSAUR plans to use AI to provide an initial screening to both peer-reviewed and non peer-reviewed articles such that human reviewers do not have to worry about grammar as part of their reviewing process.
- Formatting: The current JSAUR published template is written in LaTeX, and AI can assist in formatting manuscripts into the JSAUR template to streamline the publication process.
- Keywords and tags: With the author’s permission, AI will assign relevant keywords to published articles, making them more easily searchable within the JSAUR database.
As AI technology advances further, JSAUR plans to expand the role of AI in the following areas:
- Feedback: While all JSAUR users are able to screen peer-to-peer reviews for inadequate feedback, a proficient AI model can act as another layer in identifying malicious feedback. AI can also identify whether the original author has adequately implemented feedback to improve their manuscript.
- User Assistance: As the first decentralized journal, we understand JSAUR’s features may be complex for new student authors. While we try our best to ensure that the website is informative and answer inquiries via email. A well-trained AI can act as a virtual assistant to help users navigate the publishing process.
- Website Maintenance: A network is not considered truly independent until it can operate by itself. In the future, we expect AI to assist in website maintenance amongst human developers, and eventually eliminate the need for human maintenance altogether.