Distributed Ledger Technologies: Research and Practice (DLT) is a peer-reviewed journal that seeks to publish high quality, interdisciplinary research on the research and development, real-world deployment, and evaluation of distributed ledger technologies (DLT) such as blockchain, cryptocurrency, and smart contract. DLT will offer a blend of original research work and innovative practice-driven advancements by internationally distinguished DLT experts and researchers from academia, and public and private sector organizations.

Topics of relevance include, but are not limited to, the following:

Innovation and advances in DLT

- Distributed ledger theory
- Performance analysis and optimization
- Distributed ledger scalability and reliability
- Interoperability or cross-chain interactions
- Consistency, availability and partition tolerance
- Mathematical modeling and stability analysis
- Language-based security and formal verification
- Blockchain and alternative distributed ledger technologies
- Green distributed ledger computing
- Sustainability of distributed ledgers
- Hardware-level security
- Security, privacy, attacks and forensics of distributed ledger
- Anonymity, privacy and network forensics
- Simulation tools and platforms

Smart Contracts

- Smart contract programming languages and tools
- Transaction monitoring and analysis
- Transactional privacy/anonymity
- Mining pools and swarms
- Workflows using smart contracts
- Proof-of-work, -stake, -burn and alternatives
- Smart contract security and attacks
- Formal analysis, verification and correct by design principles
- Governance, accountability, automation and safety

DLT Building Blocks

- Consensus protocols, including PoW, -stake, -burn and alternatives
- Cryptoeconomic mechanisms to reach consensus
- Economic incentive and payoff mechanisms
- Consensus mechanism of DAG
- Security risks and attack vectors

Fintech

- Cryptocurrency and cashless society
- Payment and exchange
- Cryptocurrency integration
- Business opportunities in blockchain
- Derivative contracts/transactions
- Tokens and value creation
- Token economies and governance
- Interfacing fiat and cryptocurrencies
- Machine learning in crypto-markets
- Distributed ledger-based financial market
- Prediction marketplace systems
- Fraud detection and management
- Regulation and taxation
- Policy issues associated with digital currencies
- Fintech adoption, use and impact

Blockchain Engineering

- User studies, real-world measurements and metrics
- Design methodologies for distributed applications
- Certification and audits
- Implications for existing business models
- Identity management, user services and integrity verification
- The Internet of Agreements
- Healthcare management
- Supply chain management
- Business and industrial applications
- Education, legal and smart infrastructure applications
- Distributed ledger and cryptocurrency impact on consumers and regulatory responses

Enabling Technologies

- Internet of things (IoT) and blockchain technology
- Distributed ledger in next generation communications and networks
- Artificial intelligence and blockchain
- Distributed ledger in big data analytics
- High-performance for transaction processing
- Quantum-resistant cryptography

This journal is published on a quarterly basis.

Special Issue on Distributed Ledger Technologies for Trustworthy Internet of Vehicles
Submission Date: 2024-12-31

Guest Editors:
• Haitham Mahmoud, Birmingham City University, Haitham.mahmoud@bcu.ac.uk
• Junaid Arshad, Birmingham City University, Junaid.arshad@bcu.ac.uk
• Mohammed Alsadi, Verizon US, Mohammed.alsadi@verizon.com
• Ahmed Khan, Verizon US, Ahmed.khan@verizon.com

The incorporation of smart road technology into the Internet of Vehicles (IoV) presents an opportunity for
revolutionizing the transportation industry, offering improved traffic flow, safety, economic prospects, reduced
environmental impact, and secure data transmission. However, as vehicle connectivity escalates and smart
infrastructure becomes more integrated, data security and privacy concerns have grown. Due to the possibility of
unauthorized access to sensitive information or system manipulation by malicious actors within the IoV ecosystem,
the need to implement robust security measures to protect data and maintain privacy is particularly critical. Vehicles
can connect directly (V2V) or through infrastructure (V2I) in the IoV through using a variety of communication
mechanisms. To improve safety and navigation, this cooperative environment enables vehicles to share vital
information like traffic updates and road conditions. The reputation/trust mechanisms of the vehicles are essential
in ensuring the reliability and trustworthiness of the information shared. This robust security framework mitigates
the risk of attacks like malicious data injection or hacking of autonomous vehicles, safeguarding not only data
integrity but, critically, human lives and safety within the transportation industry.

Centralized systems are insufficient for the decentralised nature of the IoV and may pose security and privacy risks
by requiring trust in third-party systems. Maintaining privacy, safeguarding the network, and optimizing the use of
resources present difficulties for such decentralized networks. These issues can be resolved by decentralised
technologies such as Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLTs), which offer efficient, transparent, and safe ways to
build and preserve trust by sending trustworthy information. Incorporating trust from trusted vehicles within a
reputation system poses challenges in maintaining privacy, securing network interactions, ensuring
decentralization, and resource-efficient computations, while necessitating real-time trust score aggregation that
considers device limitations to uphold both vehicle security and privacy.

Topics

This special issue centres on the state-of-the-art (latest) developments in privacy, reputation, and trust
management within the IoV utilising DLTs, blockchain and smart contracts, highlighting aspects like trust
measurement, peer recommendations, and misbehaviour detection, along with addressing privacy concerns and
associated threats in the IoV. We encourage submissions that emphasise trust, reputation, privacy, and their
associated threats within the IoV decentralized system (i.e., DLTs, Blockchains, etc.).

• Privacy, Trust, and Reputation Models
• Vehicle Recommendations and Rating Algorithms
• Trust or Reputation calculation
• Trust architecture.
• Machine learning-based trust models.
• Privacy-associated threats
• Secure Data Sharing and Privacy-Preserving Techniques
• Regulatory and Ethical Aspects of Privacy and Trust
• Anonymity and Identity Protection in IoV
• Scalability and Performance Optimization for Privacy-Preserving
• User-Centric Trust Models
• Blockchain-Based Data Provenance and Audit Trails in IoV

Important Dates

• Submissions deadline: December 2024
• First-round review decisions: February 2025
• Deadline for revision submissions: April 2025
• Notification of final decisions: July 2025
• Tentative publication: published online individually before print publication.

Submission Information

Prospective authors are invited to submit their manuscripts electronically adhering to the ACM Distributed Ledger
Technologies: Research and Practice guidelines (https://dl.acm.org/journal/dlt/author-guidelines). Please submit
your papers through the online system (https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/dlt) and be sure to select the
Distributed Ledger Technologies for Trustworthy Internet of Vehicles option as paper type. Also, please indicate
that you are submitting to this special issue in the author's cover letter. Papers will be subject to a strict review
process under the supervision of the Guest Editors, and accepted papers will be published online individually
before print publication.

For questions and further information, please contact Dr. Haitham Mahmoud (Haitham.mahmoud@bcu.ac.uk) or
other guest editors.