# US 2018/0323980 A1 · Blockchain for open scientific research > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2018/0323980 A1 - Document ID: US20180323980A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 15/842,659 - Filed: 2017-12-14 - Published: 2018-11-08 - Earliest claimed: 2017-05-05 - Assignees: International Business Machines Corporation - Applicants: International Business Machines Corporation - Inventors: Jae-Wook Ahn; Maria D. Chang; Ravindranath Kokku; Patrick Watson - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20180323980A1 ## CPC - H04L 9/3297: {involving time stamps, e.g. generation of time stamps} - G06F 16/183: {Provision of network file services by network file servers, e.g. by using NFS, CIFS (network file access protocols H04L67/1097)} - G06F 21/6209: {to a single file or object, e.g. in a secure envelope, encrypted and accessed using a key, or with access control rules appended to the object itself} - G06F 21/64: Protecting data integrity, e.g. using checksums, certificates or signatures - H04L 9/0631: {Substitution permutation network [SPN], i.e. cipher composed of a number of stages or rounds each involving linear and nonlinear transformations, e.g. AES algorithms} - H04L 9/0637: {Modes of operation, e.g. cipher block chaining [CBC], electronic codebook [ECB] or Galois/counter mode [GCM]} - H04L 9/0643: {Hash functions, e.g. MD5, SHA, HMAC or f9 MAC} - H04L 9/3236: {using cryptographic hash functions} - G06F 21/606: {by securing the transmission between two devices or processes} - G06F 2221/2107: File encryption - H04L 9/50: {using hash chains, e.g. blockchains or hash trees} - H04L 2209/60: Digital content management, e.g. content distribution - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) ## Abstract Techniques facilitating using a blockchain system that integrates the trustworthiness of the blockchain concept with open scientific research by generating a blockchain of the experiments formed, data collected, analyses performed, and results achieved are provided herein. In an example, the blockchain system can form a blockchain representing a research project, wherein the blockchain comprises a first block of research data and a second block of analysis data representing a log of an analysis performed on the research data. Summary blocks and correction blocks can also be added to the blockchain representing the post analysis of the research results. One or more of the subsequent blocks can be linked to the preceding blocks using information in block headers that can also serve to determine whether modifications to the blocks have been performed. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A computer-implemented method, comprising: generating, by a device operatively coupled to a processor, a first block from a first file, wherein the first block comprises a first header and experimental data is comprised within the first file, wherein the first header further comprises a first time stamp, an identifier that identifies a source of the experimental data, and a first hash based on the experimental data; and generating, by the device, a second block based on a second file that comprises a log of an analysis performed on the experimental data, wherein the second block comprises the log of the analysis and a second header that comprises a second time stamp, a link to the first block, and a second hash based on the log of the analysis. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: forming, by the device, a blockchain based on the first block and the second block. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting, by the device, the first block and the second block to a ledger database. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: generating, by the device, a third block comprising a summary of the experimental data and the analysis and a result of the analysis; and joining, by the device, the third block to a blockchain associated with the first block and the second block by placing a link to the second block in a third header of the third block. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The computer-implemented method of claim 4, further comprising: performing, by the device, a correction to the result of the analysis based on a review of the summary of the experimental data of the third block; generating, by the device, a fourth block comprising the correction; and joining, by the device, the fourth block to the blockchain. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The computer-implemented method of claim 5, further comprising: matching, by the device, respective hashes of the first block, the second block, the third block, and the fourth block, to corresponding hashes of corresponding blocks in a ledger database. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: encrypting, by the device, the experimental data and the log of the analysis prior to forming the first block and second block respectively. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the second block comprises information relating to a data processing script associated with the experimental data, and wherein the method further comprises: generating, by the device, a fifth block comprising information relating to a result of an execution of the data processing script. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the generating the first block further comprises: generating the first block based on a combination of a plurality of data blocks. ### Claim 10 A computer-implemented method, comprising: forming, by a device operatively coupled to a processor, a blockchain representing a research project, wherein the blockchain comprises a first block of research data, and a second block of analysis data representing a log of an analysis performed on the research data; forming, by the device, a summary block comprising a summary of the research data and summary of the analysis data; and appending, by the device, the summary block to the blockchain. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The computer-implemented method of claim 10, further comprising: rating, by the device, a reliability of a research result associated with the analysis data, wherein the reliability is based on the summary of the analysis data and the log of the analysis and is associated with a number of modifications to an analysis procedure. ### Claim 12 (depends on 10) The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the forming the blockchain further comprises: generating, by the device, the first block of research data comprising a first header and the research data, wherein the header further comprises a first time stamp, an identifier that identifies a source of the research data, and a first hash based on the research data; and generating, by the device, the second block of analysis data comprising the log of the analysis and a second header that comprises a second time stamp, a link to the first block of research data, and a second hash based on the log of the analysis. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein the link to the first block is the first hash. ### Claim 14 (depends on 10) The computer-implemented method of claim 10, further comprising: retrieving, by the device, the first block of research data and the second block of analysis data from a public database.