Decentralized Peer Review Marketplace with Cardano & Next.js

Introduction

Peer review in academia is fundamentally broken — slow, biased, unrewarding. Journals act as gatekeepers, while reviewers receive nothing for their efforts. We’ve seen too many promising papers stuck in limbo.

So we built something better: a peer-to-peer review marketplace, powered by Cardano and Next.js, where authors post papers and reviewers earn tokens for meaningful feedback. No middlemen. Transparent incentives. Real accountability.

We’re not here to reinvent academia — just to fix its worst bottleneck.

Environment Setup

Backend Stack:

Cardano Testnet via Blockfrost
Plutus Lite Scripts for token escrow
Lucid.js for smart contract interactions
IPFS + web3.storage to store paper metadata and review documents

Frontend Stack:

Next.js 14 (App Router)
TailwindCSS for sleek UI
Wagmi + Lucid to connect Cardano wallets (e.g. Nami Wallet)
Simple Node.js Proxy for:
- CORS handling
- Request timestamping

Deployment:

Local Dev: Mac + Ubuntu
Cloud: Vercel
Token: Dummy reviewToken minted on testnet

Workflow Overview

Author Flow:

Upload paper (CID via IPFS)
Set bounty (e.g. 100 reviewTokens)
Paper appears on the public marketplace dashboard

Reviewer Flow:

Claim a paper
Write markdown-based feedback
Submit review (CID + signature)
Await author’s confirmation for payout

After Submission:

Smart contract verifies workflow
Tokens are released upon approval
Review and rating stored off-chain (linked to wallet)

Smart Contract Logic

Token Escrow: Bounty is locked until conditions are met
Review Confirmation: Author must approve review to trigger payout
Timeout Mechanism: 7-day lock; if expired without submission, tokens are returned
Dispute Flag: Allows manual overrides or review blocking (v1 implementation)

Dashboard Features (Next.js)

List open bounties with filters (topic, reward, deadline)
Connect wallet (Nami) with persistent session
Upload preprints (CID, title, abstract)
Inline markdown editor for reviews
Track review status and past payouts
Display reviewer reputation and earnings

Reviewer Experience

Claiming a paper locks it for 7 days
Clean markdown interface for writing
Preview pane for formatted view
Simple submit button — sends CID and wallet signature
Payout automatically triggered on approval

Author Experience

Dashboard to track review progress
Approve or reject submissions
View reviewer’s historical ratings
Flag disputes if necessary

Extra Features

Reputation System: Based on average ratings from last 10 reviews
Token Faucet: For testnet access
Notifications: Toasts for major actions (connected, claimed, payout)
Audit Trail: Timestamp + transaction hashes logged
Anti-Spam:
- 1 active review per reviewer
- Minimum token requirement for bounties
- Markdown sanitation + CID rotation for edits

Test Results

3 papers submitted
5 reviews completed
All payouts processed within 15 seconds
Wallet integrations smooth
1 missed deadline → tokens refunded automatically

Best Practices

Store only CIDs on-chain to keep contracts lean
Sanitize all markdown inputs
Keep reputation logic off-chain, but tied to verified wallet
Monitor and retrain smart contract logic as needed
Limit spam through active review caps and token minimums
Prepare for DAO-based governance in future iterations

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Conclusion

The decentralized peer review marketplace performed far better than expected.

Reviewers finally got rewarded. Authors didn’t wait months. The system ran smoothly on Cardano testnet, and Next.js kept the UI fast and user-friendly. No gas fees. No complex infrastructure.

Next steps? DAO curation, reviewer badges, and group review modes. Academic gatekeepers may not love it — but for the open research community, this could be a quiet revolution.