A safe, decentralized platform for research enthusiasts to publish papers with proof of ownership, apply for journal publications, offer peer review bounties, and contribute to others’ research. Powered by EDU-CHAIN and assisted by Sagey — your AI agent for fast, related research discovery.
- Understanding the Problem
- 🔍 Features
- 💰 Fundraising Status
- 🗺️ Project Roadmap
- 🧾 What We'll Do With Funds
- User Flows
- 🧠 Tech Stack
- 🚀 Running Locally
- 📄 License
- 👥 Authors
Parth (@Par-t) completed our mandatory 6-month industry training through research instead of the more conventional internship route — a rare path due to the lack of research support in India. This decision came with several challenges during his work on Application of Machine Learning in Fiber Optics based intrusion detection and classification systems and Aspect based sentiment analysis of reviews in tourism and hospitality sector:
- Many professors prioritize quantity of publication over quality and global standards.
- The journal submission process is slow and opaque, often requiring repeated follow-ups.
- Peer reviews are often done by TAs, resulting in low-quality feedback due to a lack of incentives.
The article "Who Pays the Price for Peer Review?" highlights a growing concern in academia: peer reviewers are rarely compensated or formally recognized for their contributions.
- This lack of incentive leads to difficulty in sourcing willing reviewers.
- It causes delays and compromises the quality of feedback.
- The system currently relies on academic goodwill, which is increasingly unsustainable given the growing volume of research.
In the article "Peer Review Ghost-Writing, or Do Professors Understand Plagiarism?", the author explores unethical practices in the peer review process:
- Senior academics sometimes delegate peer review responsibilities to junior staff or students.
- These contributions are often unacknowledged, raising serious concerns around plagiarism.
- This practice undermines the transparency and integrity of peer review in academic publishing.
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Authorship Tracking with SBTs (ERC721 Tokens)
- Receive a Soulbound Token (SBT) on first draft upload.
- Verifies authorship and combats plagiarism.
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Bounty System for Peer Reviews
- Offer crypto bounties for quality peer reviews.
- Smart contracts automate verified review payments.
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AI-Powered Research Comparison
- Detects plagiarism and finds similar research.
- Enables better collaboration and prevents duplication.
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Decentralized Research Search Engine
- Web3-powered, DAO-governed research discovery.
- Ranks papers fairly — not by SEO or paywalls.
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Sagey – Personal AI Research Assistant
- Recommends papers and references as you write.
- Improves literature review and speeds discovery.
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Transparent Journal Submission Tracking
- Real-time status updates on paper submissions to journals
- Eliminates the need for constant follow-ups between authors and publishers
- Clear visibility into each stage of the review process with automated notifications
Problem: Research is siloed in different journals and platforms, creating redundancy and missed collaboration opportunities.
SageNet Solution: Our platform provides:
- Unified discovery across journals and institutions worldwide
- AI-powered similarity detection to connect related research
- Decentralized indexing that isn't limited by paywalls or institutional access
Real-world Impact: A PhD student in India can instantly discover and connect with researchers in Europe working on similar problems, avoiding duplicate work and fostering global collaboration.
Problem: Researchers struggle to identify trustworthy journals among predatory publishers.
SageNet Solution: Our on-chain reputation system:
- Tracks journal performance metrics transparently
- Enables researcher ratings and reviews of publications
- Creates immutable records of journal publishing history
Real-world Impact: A new researcher can confidently submit to journals with proven track records instead of risking their work with exploitative publishers.
Problem: Traditional peer review lacks incentives, resulting in delayed or superficial feedback.
SageNet Solution: Our bounty system:
- Motivates thorough, timely reviews through financial incentives
- Ensures review quality through author verification before payment
- Creates a reputation system for reviewers based on acceptance rate
Real-world Impact: A researcher receives five detailed, actionable peer reviews within two weeks instead of waiting months for potentially superficial feedback through traditional channels.
Problem: Researchers waste time and energy with constant follow-ups on submission status.
SageNet Solution: Our status tracking system:
- Provides real-time updates on paper progression through review stages
- Sends automated notifications when status changes
- Creates accountability through transparent timelines
Real-world Impact: Instead of sending weekly emails asking about paper status, researchers can focus on their next project while receiving clear updates through the platform.
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Next 2 Months
- Launch the testnet version with rewritten and security-audited smart contracts for:
- Paper publishing
- Bounty creation
- Peer review automation
- Remodel Sagey to dynamically analyze all uploaded papers, enhancing similarity detection and research relevance.
- Launch the testnet version with rewritten and security-audited smart contracts for:
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Following 1 Month
- Gather feedback from early testnet users.
- Iterate quickly and fix bugs to improve the platform's performance and usability.
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Next 3 Months
- Build a fully integrated research paper writing interface, complete with:
- Live reference recommendations
- In-editor AI assistance
- Versioning and citation tools
- Build a fully integrated research paper writing interface, complete with:
- Connect with our own colleges and expand outreach to IITs and research clubs to onboard early users.
- Launch premium AI-assisted writing tools as optional upgrades.
- Begin discussions with academic journals to:
- Recognize their reputation levels on-chain.
- Enable researchers to directly submit applications for publishing.
flowchart TD
A[User Uploads Research Paper] --> B["Creates a Bounty<br>- Amount<br>- Number of Reviewers<br>- Deadline"]
B --> C[Other Users Submit Reviews/Feedback]
C --> D[Author Reviews Feedback Before Deadline]
D -->|Accepts Feedback| E[Reviewer Added to Accepted List]
D -->|Rejects Feedback| F[Reviewer Rejected]
E --> G{Deadline Reached}
F --> G
G -->|Enough Accepted Reviews| H[Accepted Reviewers Receive Bounties]
G -->|Not Enough Accepted Reviews| I[Author Reclaims Remaining Bounty]
flowchart TD
A[User Uploads Paper] --> B[Adds Journal Address to Apply For Publishing]
B --> C[Journal Reviews the Submission]
C -->|Change Status| D["Paper Status Updated (e.g., Under Review, Rejected)"]
C -->|Accept| E[Paper is Published by the Journal]
graph TD;
A[Start] --> B[Receive User Query];
B --> C[Preprocess Query];
C --> D[Search Database with BM25];
D --> E[Evaluate Results with Ranking Metrics];
E --> F[Return Ranked Papers to User];
F --> G[End];
- 💼 Sustain Ourselves: As student builders, the funds will act as a side income to allow us to work more consistently and seriously on the project.
- 🧪 Development Costs: Pay for essential infrastructure such as cloud compute, smart contract audits, and continuous deployment.
- 🚀 Growth & Partnerships: Fuel outreach campaigns, partnership initiatives with universities and journals, and expand community support.
- 🧠 Product Enhancements: Invest in building more advanced AI capabilities and onboarding tools for new researchers.
We are open to collaborations, grant opportunities, and accelerator programs that align with our mission to build a fair, decentralized future for research publishing.
We’re currently in the fundraising phase to sustain and grow SageNet beyond the hackathon.
Since this project is being built entirely by students — with Parth being a university student and Prakhar still early in his career — any funding would help us continue working full-time on the platform. We are currently seeking grants, accelerators, and angel support to push SageNet forward and build it into a sustainable, impactful research ecosystem.
- Next.js (TypeScript)
- Wagmi with Reown Wallet
- Python with BM25 Algorithm
- Foundry
- Solidity
- OpenZeppelin ERC721
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Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/prakhar728/SageNet.git && cd SageNet
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Install dependencies:
cd client pnpm install -
Set up environment variables:
cp .env.example .env
Add the required variables to
.env -
Start the development server:
pnpm run dev
This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details
- @prakhar728 - UG at IIIT Surat(2024 pass out)
- @Par-t - UG at IIIT Surat(2024 pass out), Masters at SBU(Computer Science with a concentration in Data Science)