In order to introduce deScier, one of the most important decentralized science projects in the ecosystem, I spoke with María Goreti, her leader, which allows the publication of scientific papers through tokenization.
Tell us a litte about yourself
MG: My name is Maria Goreti Freitas, I hold a PhD in Molecular Biology. Currently I am the Leader at deScier. I’ve been working on finding solutions for challenges I experienced in Academia since this cycle ended in 2019. I like to describe this as my first career in TradSci as a public health scientist where I worked with mosquitoes.
It was at a birthday party in 2022 that I entered Web3. This is because, I was speaking about the scientific publishing problem when one of our co-Founders stated: But you can always use NFTs! I must confess I never heard of Non Fungible Tokens before.
Why did you decide to create deScier? What were the feelings that led you to it?
MG: My first endeavor after 2019 was a startup named Geniac. Geniac was followed by SciDAO which was followed by deScier. Geniac was already born for creating opportunities and offering alternatives for what was wrong with science. SciDAO was created after being introduced to Web3 and its ethos.
deScier was a merge between 2 DAOs, when Danilo Melo who was the Leader of CRO (a contract research organization) DAO and I (through the wise orientation of our Mentor Tiago Leandro from Accelerated Network) decided that we should create a brand name which could align with our drive to build a community which could stand time, for web3 and beyond. Our feelings are always to bullishly create a great alternative for an industry that currently takes 100% of our copyright.
What kind of publications can be made on deScier?
MG: Many article types are accepted. Research articles, capstone work (in Brazil we called them TCC-trabalho de conclusão de curso), reviews, systematic review, technical note, technical reports, short communications, pictorial essays, case series, letter to the Editor, commentary, correspondence, conference abstracts to name what people have been using in the classification of scientific publications. As innovators however, we are open to novel ways of communicating science.
How is the traditional process for a scientist to publish in a traditional journal?
MG: It sure takes time. A scientist needs to publish the results of experiments, observations and ideas. Publishing is an essential practice of the scientific quest. This holds true not only for those in the traditional realm of science, the so-called scientists in Academia, but also for all those individuals in the quest for knowledge, students, scholars, inventors; we will call these individuals non-institutionalized scientists.
We usually refer to this publication as a paper. Before a paper is published, it is called a manuscript. The individual who is publishing a paper is called the Author. Let’s list the steps for the publication of a manuscript:
1) Write the manuscript as a scientific communication with sections such as title, author name, affiliation, address, abstract, introduction, methodology, results, discussion, conclusions, acknowledgements, appendices, references.
2) Choose a journal (With approximately 50 thousand journal titles, half of them in the English language, you might think that publishing is a piece of cake. Well, this is far from reality. An Author should choose a specific journal title and this can get really specific such as journals which will only publish papers related to a certain aspect of an area of knowledge).
3) Format your manuscript according to the journal (some require signed letters from the institutions and from the co-authors).
4) Send for submission waiving from this step on 100% of your copyright.
5) Wait for approval to be reviewed (expect high rejections rates).
6) Peer-reviewing (may take from months to years).
7) Wait for green light to publish.
8) Pay for publishing (2k USD to 15k USD).
9) Pay for open access (2k to 4k USD) (so others can read your paper without paying to download a pdf).
10) See your paper published. Wait, the pronoun ‘your’ is no longer applicable since you have been expropriated from your content creation. You now have zero percent copyright! Zero! You can even be sued for auto-plagiarism.
What are the vices that this model has generated? Why did the concept of Open Science arise?
MG: I think I covered most of it in the previous question. And I think, we scientists have kinda suspected the flaws of the system. But I can assure you that it is very difficult to see a game and to find out the rules of this game when you are playing very hard to win.
The way science is conducted in Academia, well, this is not for the faint at heart. Highly competitive, highly hierarchical, closed for outsiders, the Academic career is based on paper production: scientists work on the bench, work in the field, work in the classroom, work with students, work writing for grants, work for free as Editor and Reviewer, all the while life seems to follow the flow. You don’t question. You know you should, but I think in the end, it would just be another work. Work criticizing, work building alternatives. When all the previous works cited are priority in your career, you can see that’s a meager possibility.
What the traditional scientific publication industry sells is prestige. And boy, they are good at it! They created the ‘impact factor’ which is now used from science financing agencies to admission boards to judge a scientist’s work life. If you published in ‘high impact factor’ journals you must be good! Well, these are the same journals which proudly announce rejection rates as high as 98% of all submitted manuscripts. You must belong to a certain institution, to a certain lab, have worked with a certain scientist in a certain aspect of science, be financed by certain agencies to be able to publish in those journals. Are you surprised?
I believe you can now understand why the Open Science movement arose and also the movement for decentralized science, or DeSci.
Unlike the traditional model, what is the publication process in The DeSci Journal?
MG: The DeSci Journals have the Author as the center of scientific publishing. The DeSci Journals aim to have a swift submission process of 1 page only. Upload your manuscript and we will take care of format. You will pay only if we accept to review your manuscript. We charge 10 times less for submission, i.e. 180 USD and 84% of these fees are given back to Editors, Reviewers and Designers. We are still adjusting a few processes but we aim to have a fast peer-review process, 90 days maximum from submission to publishing.
This is great for Authors who need to publish before their vivas. Authors will have their papers published as NFTs and will maintain 100% of their copyright. Authors can decide if they will want their papers Open Access or Paid Access and how much they will charge. Authors will be able to determine a percentage of authorship among them. The DeSci Journals welcome new areas of knowledge, Independent Researchers, Universities and communities.
We are in the process of becoming The DeSci Journals, plural, a platform where communities, universities, faculties, new areas of knowledge, associations, DAOs can use our framework to build their own journals. This will allow these groups to be economically sound, sustainable, equitable and fair while building a publication vehicle to spread and share the knowledge they create.
Is there peer review? What happens with copyright when publishing?
MG: Yes, we do have peer-review. We work as a digital cooperative where 84% of the submission fee of 180 USD goes to Editor, Reviewers and Designers. The copyright is 100% of the Author, non-negotiable.
What articles have already been published in the journal?
MG: We have published a human courtship behavioural paper and have a few under review.
Who participates in the deScier community?
MG: All individuals who love the quest for knowledge, students, scholars, inventors, teachers, professors, researchers and scientists.
What would you say to scientists who may be hesitant to use blockchain technology?
MG: They have already been using it without knowing. Brazilian banks and identification agencies are already using blockchain. In a few months the Brazil Central Bank is implementing the digital currency, called DREX.
What has your experience been like developing in the decentralized sciences?
MG: I have been lucky to find wonderful people in the space. I love challenges. Some people get what we are building, some others don’t. In the end, we all will profit from being able to choose to publish traditional or go non-traditional. For some prestige will still be the currency. For others, well, they will become owners of their papers, the very core of their intellectual properties, the wonderful ideas that they put into writing. It will become a choice. What will it unravel from there? Amazing ways of improving lives!
How can scientists interested in publishing contact you or the project?
MG: They can reach me on LinkedIn, Instagram, X and also submit their manuscripts online at https://platform.desci.reviews.