Researchhub Researchhub: When to Fund Science or Earn RSC
Last updated -ResearchHub is a scientific funding marketplace with paid, public reviews of funding proposals. It suits funders supporting a research question, laboratories seeking study funding, and specialists contributing expert assessments. Funders can participate without ResearchCoin (RSC). Paid reviewing requires a relevant expertise profile, identity verification, ORCID authentication, and editorial selection for compensation.
Funding and Review Choices
| Your Aim | Suitable Route | Main Condition |
|---|---|---|
| Support Scientific Work | Create a request for proposals (RFP) around a research question, or contribute to an existing proposal. | University-foundation crowdfunding must reach its goal by the deadline; otherwise, contributions return to funders. |
| Obtain Study Funding | Respond to a matching RFP, or submit a standalone crowdfunding proposal. | Receiving funds requires verified identity and an ORCID account linked to the applicant's ResearchHub profile. |
| Earn a Review Reward | Review a funding proposal matching your demonstrated expertise. | Payment is limited to the top two high-quality reviews per proposal, selected and approved by editors. |
| Payment Fit | Funders can use RSC, credit card, Apple Pay, or a donor-advised fund. The paid review program compensates selected reviewers in RSC. | |
Funding a Research Question or an Existing Proposal
An RFP fits a funder who has a research question and needs researchers to propose approaches. Supporting an existing proposal fits a funder who has already found a study to back. ResearchHub also supports in-kind resources, including GPU compute and cloud credits, alongside monetary funding.
The university-foundation crowdfunding route transfers funds only when the funding goal is met by its deadline. Endaoment converts RSC contributions into cash and transfers the gift to the university's nonprofit foundation for the lab. A missed goal triggers the return of contributions to funders.
Peer reviews provide expert context for funding decisions. A proposal does not have to pass peer review to be eligible for funding, and researchers are not required to implement reviewers' suggestions. Positive feedback alone does not establish that a proposal has been funded.
Institutional Funding for Planned Studies
A proposal fits work whose methods and budget can be specified before experiments begin. ResearchHub's funding guidance asks for a 2-4 page preregistration covering background, hypothesis, experimental methods, planned statistical analysis, and budget.
Researchers must verify their identity and link ORCID before receiving funds. International applicants using the university-foundation route should confirm in advance that their institution has a US 501(c)(3) intermediary able to receive the funds.
After funding, the hypotheses and methods are locked and can be published without charge as a Registered Report in the ResearchHub Journal. The Registered Report records the planned study; a linked Results publication can subsequently report positive or negative findings. A published plan therefore does not establish that the experiments are complete.
Review Rewards and Editorial Selection
The paid proposal-review route fits specialists prepared to publish their assessment under their own name. Reviewers need an account with relevant expertise, verified identity, and authenticated ORCID. Qualified reviewers can choose an open proposal bounty without an invitation.
Reviewers may submit up to two reviews per week. Editors assess quality and may request revisions before approval. Only the top two high-quality reviews per proposal are selected for payment, with each approved, selected review earning $150 USD equivalent in RSC. Submission alone does not secure compensation.
Editorial evaluation typically occurs within several days after the submission deadline closes. Approved payments are issued approximately 10 days after acceptance. That payment estimate begins at acceptance, so it should not be treated as a deadline measured from submission.
AI assistance is permitted for spelling, grammar, or clarity, but AI must not generate scientific content or analysis. Reviewers remain responsible for accuracy and originality, and any AI assistance must be disclosed within the review, including copy-editing.
Progress Sharing After Funding
Funded researchers can earn $50 worth of RSC for an optional brief monthly progress update, with text or video formats supported. For this institutional gift route, ResearchHub does not require specific reports from applicants. A progress update communicates ongoing work; final Results linked to the original Registered Report communicate the study's findings.
Questions people ask about Researchhub
What Changes If the Work I Want to Review Is a Preprint?
A preprint needs its own applicable bounty terms. The ResearchHub Foundation's preprint-bounty request guide, published February 19, 2025, described a separate route for preprints matching the reviewer's expertise and published in the six months before the request. It required the preprint to be uploaded before the request form was submitted and the bounty to be approved and assigned before writing the review for payment. Those dated request conditions do not establish that a particular preprint currently has a funded bounty.