A Systematic Literature Review on Blockchain-Based Systems for Academic Certificate Verification

Abstract

In the past few years, there has been significant progress made in the area of blockchain. The use of blockchain technology has the potential to revolutionize the educational system by providing individuals with innovative and cost-effective ways to learn, as well as by altering the way teachers and students work together. Additionally, blockchain technology can be utilized for the issuing of unchangeable digital certificates, and it can enhance the present limitations of the existing certificate verification systems by making them quicker, more reliable, and independent of the central authority. The application of blockchain in the context of education has generated significant scientific interest in this field. Nonetheless, research endeavors on the adoption of blockchain in the verification of academic credentials are still in the development phase. In order to shed more light on the field, in this paper we focus on extensively reviewing the body of knowledge on blockchain-based systems for academic certificate verification. Hence, the purpose of this survey is to compile all relevant research into a systematic literature review, highlighting the key contributions from various researchers throughout the years with a focus on the past, present, and future. In this work, we have identified 34 relevant studies out of 1744 papers that were published between 2018 and 2022 by employing the PRISMA framework. We distinguished six major themes covered by the research articles analyzed and also identified research gaps that need to be addressed and explored by the research community. Based on the findings of this review, we provide some recommendations for future research directions and practical applications that can assist researchers, policymakers, and practitioners in the field.