Summary

This proposal presents a structured breakdown of ResearchHub’s 4% annual token distribution ensuring that all quality contributions are appropriately incentivized:

• 18M RSC - Peer Review Incentives: Incentivize fast, rigorous reviews.
• 20M RSC - Funding Incentives: Fund new and original research.
• 2M RSC - Upvote Rewards: Reward 0.01 RSC per upvote to encourage discourse.

Motivation

ResearchHub distributes 4% of RSC tokens annually through the platform. This allocation must effectively incentivize quality, rigor, reproducibility, engagement, and other factors that foster “good” scientific behaviors.

Proposal

We propose the following allocation for the 2025 annual token distribution:

1. Peer Review Incentives (Up to 45% of the 4% Distribution - 18M RSC): Mechanism: Community members providing in-depth, constructive peer reviews will be rewarded from this pool. Allocation Details: Up to 45% of the annual distribution will be dedicated to incentivizing rigorous reviews. By rewarding detailed reviews, ResearchHub continues to ensure it’s the platform for solving the challenges of peer review.

2. Funding Incentives (Up to 50% of the 4% Distribution - 20M RSC): Mechanism: Allocate funding to crowdfunded projects and proposed research. Allocation Details: Up to 50% of the annual distribution will support original research proposals and studies. By funding novel research, ResearchHub continues to drive scientific innovation.

3. Upvotes (Up to 5% of the 4% Distribution - 2M RSC): *Mechanism: *Users earn 0.01 RSC for upvotes as recognition for their contributions. Allocation Details: Up to 5% of the annual distribution is reserved for upvote rewards. This mechanism ensures that ResearchHub continues to incentivize meaningful public discourse.

Conclusion

This proposal offers a forward-thinking, balanced approach to token distribution, directly linking rewards to behaviors that promote reproducibility, accelerate scientific output, and strengthen community engagement. Peer review remains a major bottleneck in the current publishing paradigm. By incentivizing peer reviews, ResearchHub advances its mission to accelerate scientific progress. Additionally, reproducibility is widely under-incentivized. By supporting crowdfunding for pre-registered studies, ResearchHub can establish itself as a leader in addressing the reproducibility crisis.