CI·TA·TION
sī’tāSH(ə)n/
The Mertonian description of normal science describes citations as the currency of science. Scientists make payments, in the form of citations, to their preceptors.
— Eugene Garfield, 1962
While this statement by the godfather of modern bibliometrics was documented in the 1960’s, until today it was not possible to realize the full vision of Garfield and Merton. Simply put, citations are fundamental to driving scientific communication and advancement. However, as important as published articles are, Garfield’s vision never limited the citable landscape of scientific research to a subset of published scholarly works.
This all changes now. ARTiFACTS provides a platform that will add new citable content to enrich the scholarly record by enabling transactions recording existence and attribution with linkages across all research artifacts. Published or pre-published. In any form, not just articles. Through its unique blockchain engine – designed specifically for academic and scientific research, and leveraging the power of the community together with the trusted network of institutions maintaining the bloxberg distributed ledger – it provides the authority, rigor, and validity that community sites and standard archives can’t provide. It is unconstrained while delivering a ledger of record — making the full vision of Garfield and Merton possible.
How does ARTiFACTS File work?
ARTiFACTS File is configured to work seamlessly within the research ecosystem
How are researchers using ARTiFACTS File?
- To secure their pre-publication artifacts to the blockchain, protect their IP, grow their reputation and collaboration networks
- To draw upon the ARTiFACTS File index of citations to pre-published and published research
- To interoperate with their commonly used research tools, software and information systems
Enterprise and community beneficiaries
Publishers identify emerging talent, disciplines and enrich value of their content
Funding organisations track outputs and impact
Universities and research organisations monitor, benchmark and report performance
Corporate R&D gains signal intelligence and access to experts

At its heart, ARTiFACTS File maintains a distributed ledger and transaction engine that records a permanent, valid, and immutable chain of records for all scientific and academic research ‘transactions’ including citing (also known as attribution) transactions recorded onto the blockchain.
The ability to capture citing transactions is a unique and powerful requirement of scientific and academic research. This citation ability differentiates ARTiFACTS File from general media blockchains.
ARTiFACTS File’ proprietary (patent pending) ability to authoritatively and rigorously manage citations, artifact linkages, and ownership pre- or post-publication is unprecedented relative to current indexing, archiving, and researcher community solutions.
What are the benefits of using ARTiFACTS File?
1Creator/Author
Creator/Author makes PoEs and citations through ARTiFACTS File and popular research tools
Metadata captured by File
2File
Metadata, citations, and links are transacted to the Bloxberg ledger and added to the File knowledge graph
API integrates within researcher’s tools and workflow
3Researcher
Researchers can readily find and cite artifacts through SEO and integrations with popular research tools
Metadata captured by File
4File
Dynamic citation and intelligent linking service maintains the provenance of files as they evolve
Access to current files, prior versions and related works
5Researcher
Accounts of the citing and cited researchers are updated in real-time
ARTiFACTS File is free for individual users and small research teams
Sign up for free!1Author manuscript
Manuscript Submission
Peer review system alerts File API of accepted manuscript
2File
File metadata, citations, and links are packaged, with option for author to confirm
API integrates within researcher’s tools and workflow
3Researcher
File custom integrations
API enables subscriber access to citations and related artifacts
4Journal Portal
Dynamic citation and intelligent linking service
Access to real-time updates of usage and citations
1Faculty & Research Teams
File creates a blockchain hash entry for research files and citations
API transmits metadata for research files to university systems
2University Systems
Institutional repository receives metadata updates of new research
API controls access permissions and transmits metadata with link to source files
3File
Create custom views of research activity
Institutional profiles and analytics
4Research Administration
Dynamic updates of research work products, usage and citations
Dynamic updates of research work products, usage and citations
ARTiFACTS File offers premium functionality for Universities
Contact us to learn more!
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