EduChain: A Blockchain-Inspired Secure Academic Document Sharing and Verification Framework
Keywords:
Academic records, Artificial intelligence, Blockchain, Document verification, Merkle tree, Role-based access control, Secure document sharing, SHA-256Abstract
The rapid shift from paper-based records to digital academic documents has made secure storage, verification, and controlled sharing increasingly important for educational institutions. Conventional approaches often depend on centralized databases and manual verification, which may make it difficult to detect unauthorized changes and may increase the time required to confirm the validity of records. This paper presents EduChain, a blockchain-inspired system designed for secure academic document management and verification. The proposed approach uses SHA-256 hashing to create a digital fingerprint of each registered document and applies hash comparison during verification to identify changes in document content. A Merkle-tree structure is included to organize document hashes and strengthen the integrity-verification process. The system also incorporates authentication and role-based access control so that document operations can be restricted to authorized users. An AI-based module is included to analyze academic information and provide performance-related insights and recommendations. The application follows a modular web architecture using React.js, Node.js, Express.js, and MongoDB. The prototype is intended to reduce dependence on manual verification while maintaining a clear separation between document management, security, verification, and analysis functions. The present work uses a simulated or blockchain-inspired verification layer rather than a production decentralized blockchain. Results and discussion therefore focus on the functional role of the modules and the observed workflow, while quantitative performance and AI-accuracy measurements are identified as areas for further experimental evaluation.
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