I worked at a top-5 university as a postdoc, and can certainly attest to the concerns laid out here. My group was likely one of the worst culprits out there. One graduate student, prior to my arrival, published 37 papers because they created a monopoly on an electrochemical instrument. One of many stories...

Without sounding too redundant on this platform, what about a blockchain solution? I am happy to accept ample criticism on the technological issues of such a system. I have a background in chemistry and material science, with only a basic knowledge of coding.

In this way, the science is contracted out (i.e. some organization needs an experiment done). This experiment is completed by multiple nodes and therefore becomes verified and enters the block. This also ensures scientific results can be duplicated. As a scientist, you perform an experiment or provide some input, and you get a token reward. This token acts both as a monetary reward and a measurement to indicate how much ACTUAL scientific contribution you have made to the world.

How to ensure individuals don't get exploited and become forced to give their token to their PI or someone else is something I'm still thinking about, along with various other logistical challenges. Let me know if you have any thoughts. Also, a nice article looking at this concept can be found here: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Soenke_Bartling/publication/306107836_Blockchain_for_science_and_knowledge_creation_-_A_technical_fix_to_the_reproducibility_crisis/links/57b211fb08ae0101f17a580b.pdf

Thanks for the post by the way.