This preparatory project aims to ready the Open-Source European Research Integrity Network as a candidate thematic Node that provides integrity-focused data products and APIs. The action is strictly preparatory. It does not involve deployment of operational services. It will reduce uncertainty around ERIN’s eligibility, value, and readiness for enrolment in the EOSC Federation.
ERIN is conceived of as an independent, EOSC-compatible service layer delivering structured, machine-actionable metadata describing claim-level citing-cited relationships. It supports iterative improvement through documenting assessments made in routine scholarly practice. These data products can be reused by EOSC Nodes and external services via platform-agnostic interfaces. The project will assess governance models, technical readiness against EOSC interoperability expectations, and targeted community engagement needs, with focus on scope discipline, provenance, misuse prevention (including anti-ranking safeguards), and human-in-the-loop validation.
Key outputs include a project plan, a comprehensive project charter defining ERIN’s mission, scope, service portfolio, and governance, a documented representative use case illustrating EOSC onboarding pathways, and a matrix outlining potential contributions to the EOSC Academy. Coordinated by Wageningen University & Research, the project supports EOSC objectives by exploring how integrity-focused, provenance-aware data products can strengthen transparency, accountability, and responsible use of AI across the European research ecosystem.
ERIN scales by directly linking system adoption to data quality. As researchers use ERIN data products within their workflows, they naturally generate human validation events that enrich the existing claim and citation records. Initial adoption will focus on areas where claim accuracy is essential, such as evidence synthesis and AI-assisted literature analysis. These early integrations generate validation data and highlight practical requirements for broader application.
Every validation event acts as an independent contribution. The records grow as users add confirmations, corrections, or alternative interpretations. This mechanism allows the system to become more valuable as participation increases, avoiding the need for heavy central processing.
To support decentralized growth, ERIN relies on documented APIs rather than a single user interface. Validation can originate from specific ERIN components or third-party applications. The preparatory project will assess these participation patterns to inform future governance and sustainability models. Moving forward, the default plan is to operate ERIN as an open EOSC Node, with the understanding that alternative funding or operational arrangements may be evaluated at a later stage.