VeritasChain: A Decentralized Blockchain for Academic and Research Integrity

Abstract

Academic credential fraud and falsification of research outputs remain persistent challenges in higher education and research communities. Traditional centralized credential verification systems are vulnerable to tampering, slow verification processes, and lack of transparency. This research introduces a robust blockchain-based consortium framework for transparent and tamper-proof verification of academic credentials and research outputs. Unlike prior works that primarily address identity or degree validation, our system integrates universities, accreditation authorities, and publishers into a multi-layered consortium blockchain, ensuring trust among multiple stakeholders. To preserve privacy, zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) are applied, enabling credential verification without disclosing sensitive personal data. The framework also introduces a dynamic revocation mechanism to handle fraudulent, plagiarized, or revoked certificates and publications. A prototype implementation on Hyperledger Fabric demonstrates feasibility, achieving high throughput (182 TPS), low latency (1.2 s average block confirmation), and efficient scalability with multiple nodes. Our results highlight the potential of blockchain in building a global, tamper-proof, privacy-preserving academic verification ecosystem, addressing credential fraud and ensuring research integrity.