Researchhub Researchhub ResearchCoin: How Does RSC Work?
Last updated -ResearchCoin (RSC) is the ERC-20 utility token used for scientific contribution rewards and research funding on ResearchHub. RSC also supports bounties, tips, and community voting. Paid proposal-review rewards require relevant expertise, verified identity, authenticated ORCID, and editorial selection.
How Is RSC Earned?
Sharing, curating, and discussing academic science can earn RSC, with contribution rewards reflecting how the community values the work. Dedicated programs attach more specific conditions to compensation.
The proposal-review program pays $150 USD equivalent in RSC per approved, high-quality review, with at most two paid reviews per proposal. Reviewers need a ResearchHub account, a profile showing relevant expertise, verified identity, and authenticated ORCID. Editors evaluate reviews before approving compensation and may request revisions. The Peer Review Guidelines also limit each reviewer to two submissions per week.
Approved proposal-review payments are issued approximately 10 days after acceptance. Submission, editorial acceptance, and payment are separate stages. Funded researchers can also receive a separate $50 incentive for an optional monthly progress update.
Hypothetical Token Quantity for an Approved Review
A $150 USD-equivalent award would equal 625 RSC at a hypothetical valuation of $0.24 per RSC. Assume the reviewer meets the eligibility requirements and has been selected for one of the proposal's two paid reviews. The award is denominated in dollars, while payment is made in tokens.
Approved award (USD): 150. Hypothetical RSC valuation (price, USD per RSC): 0.24 (greater than 0 USD per RSC). The calculation is
150 / price
. Award quantity (RSC):
625
RSC.
A lower RSC valuation would require more RSC for the same dollar-equivalent payment; a higher valuation would require fewer tokens. The 625 RSC result applies only to the stated hypothetical valuation. After payment, changes in market price affect the value of the credited tokens.
What Can RSC Be Used For?
- Research Funding
- Researchers can put earned RSC toward their own proposals, and funders can contribute RSC to other studies. For crowdfunding paid to a university's nonprofit foundation, the proposal must reach its funding goal by the deadline. The researcher must also verify their identity and link their ORCID account to their ResearchHub profile to receive funds. Endaoment then converts RSC contributions into a cash gift designated for the laboratory. Contributions return to funders if the goal is missed. International applicants should confirm in advance their institution has a US 501(c)(3) intermediary to receive funds.
- Bounties
- RSC can reward requested work, including peer review, replication, data, and useful scientific discussion. The particular bounty's requirements determine what work it requests and which submissions qualify for its reward.
- Tips
- Users can send RSC to support contributions they value. A tip rewards an existing contribution, while a bounty offers a reward for requested work.
- Community Voting
- Token holders can vote on community decisions. Research Improvement Proposals (RIPs), passed by the ResearchHub Foundation and voted on by token holders, can adjust the community reward algorithm.
ResearchHub also accepts funding through credit cards, Apple Pay, donor-advised funds, and in-kind resources such as GPU compute or cloud credits. Supporting science therefore does not require a funder to acquire RSC.
Researchhub ResearchCoin - How Does RSC Work?
- What Can RSC Be Used For?
- How Do Funding Credits Differ From RSC?
- What Determines RSC Distribution?
- How Do Ethereum and Base RSC Relate?
How Do Funding Credits Differ From RSC?
The ResearchHub Endowment awards daily Funding Credits for RSC held in a ResearchHub account. Those credits can only fund research. Their spending scope is narrower than RSC, which also supports tips and bounties.
What Determines RSC Distribution?
- Total Supply
- 1,000,000,000 RSC.
- Allocation
- 60% for the ResearchHub community and users; 20% retained by ResearchHub Technologies, Inc.; 10% retained by the founders; and 10% reserved for future employees, with employee vesting set individually.
- Annual Community Distribution Limit
- Up to 50,000,000 RSC per year, equivalent to 5% of total supply. The ResearchHub Foundation may receive 10,000,000 RSC per year from within that annual community allocation.
How Do Ethereum and Base RSC Relate?
ResearchCoin has deployments on Ethereum and Base. Base RSC is backed 1:1 by RSC on Ethereum, and the token documentation identifies Superbridge as a method for moving RSC between the networks. That backing relates the two token deployments; it does not set a dollar price for RSC.
- Ethereum Contract
-
0xd101dcc414f310268c37eeb4cd376ccfa507f571 - Base Contract
-
0xfbb75a59193a3525a8825bebe7d4b56899e2f7e1
RSC can be converted to USDC or fiat currency through supported exchanges. A network's token contract identifies the asset instance, while an exchange's supported conversion route determines how it can be exchanged.