Enhancing Data Integrity in Data-Driven Environmental Science Research through Blockchain Technology

Ensuring data integrity is crucial for environmental research, particularly in the data-driven era, yet breaches remain a persistent challenge, and effective technical solutions are still lacking. To address this, we have developed a customized blockchain-based full-process environmental data management system (BSDMS) tailored to environmental data integrity needs. By leveraging encryption algorithms, BSDMS ensures data immutability and traceability throughout the research process. The system is publicly accessible at http://www.bsdms.org for global use. Unlike conventional blockchain systems, BSDMS employs a project-specific, limited distributed storage model that balances data security and the confidentiality of unpublished environmental data. We validated its effectiveness through three scenario tests─data transmission, processing, and storage─demonstrating its ability to ensure traceability, prevent tampering, and resist malicious attacks in environmental science. Additionally, performance evaluations across 179 researchers highlight its potential for providing verifiable, tamper-proof data for peer review and publication. Overall, BSDMS enhances transparency, reproducibility, and accountability in environmental research, ensuring the oversight and ethical compliance of data usage in environmental science research.