Redefining academic peer review with blockchain-powered transparency, privacy, and accountability—because research deserves better.

The Problem

Peer review is essential to academic credibility
but the systems behind it are outdated and opaque:

  • No way to verify fairness or transparency

  • Reviewer anonymity often weak or broken

  • Reviewers go uncredited for their labour

  • Fraud and manipulation are on the rise

The Solution

PeerTrust is a next-generation peer-review platform built on the Canton blockchain network, combining academic workflows with tamper-proof records, privacy, and accountability.

  • Confidential access control – Only assigned reviewers can access manuscripts

  • Immutable audit trails – Every action is cryptographically logged

  • Verifiable, anonymous reviewer credit – Support for fairer recognition

  • Seamless integration – Open API architecture for publishers, preprint servers & more

Market Opportunity

  • 2.5M+ academic papers submitted every year

  • $95M/year spent on peer review infrastructure

  • Journals, conferences, and preprints are all under pressure to modernize

Why Now?

  • Peer review fraud is rising

  • Transparency mandates are growing

  • Blockchain tech is finally ready

Why Canton?

We use the Canton blockchain network to guarantee:

  • No centralised data store

  • Role-based, smart contract-driven access

  • Tamper-proof, reproducible audit logs

  • GDPR-aligned privacy at the core

FAQs

What is PeerTrust?

PeerTrust is a peer-review infrastructure currently in development, designed to bring security, transparency, and verifiability to academic publishing. Built on the Canton blockchain network, it aims to give journals, reviewers, and institutions confidence that the review process is both fair and tamper-proof.

Will PeerTrust be GDPR-compliant?

Yes. PeerTrust is being designed to meet GDPR and global privacy standards from the ground up, using the Canton network’s granular access control and decentralized architecture to ensure data protection and compliance.

Why build a new peer-review system?

The current systems behind academic peer review are outdated. They lack transparency, fail to properly credit reviewers, and are increasingly vulnerable to fraud. PeerTrust is being developed to address these issues with modern, privacy-preserving technology that enhances—not disrupts—existing editorial workflows.

Who is PeerTrust for?

Our initial focus is on high-integrity academic spaces—such as medical journals, scientific societies, elite research conferences, and preprint platforms. Eventually, the platform will be adaptable to a wide range of academic publishers.

What will make PeerTrust different when live?

When launched, PeerTrust will offer:

  • Cryptographically secure audit trails for all review events.

  • Confidential access control to protect reviewer anonymity.

  • A system for reviewers to build verifiable, pseudonymous reputations.

  • Open APIs for integration with existing publisher platforms.

How will reviewers benefit?

Reviewers currently invest time and expertise without formal recognition. PeerTrust will allow reviewers to earn verifiable, pseudonymous credit for their contributions—without revealing their identity—supporting promotion, grant, and tenure applications.

Connect with us:

We're keen to connect with researchers, publishers, and innovators passionate about transforming academic peer review. Share your ideas or questions below.