Building a Global Expert Network for Interledger’s Call for Papers
In 2025, the Interledger Foundation took a new step toward advancing independent academic research on interoperable payments, digital financial inclusion, and open finance through the launch of a new Call for Papers (CfP) initiative.
Seven outstanding proposals were selected for development as full-length papers and several other promising ideas were supported as blog posts. The wealth of research generated by the inaugural CfP cohort ranges from the financial inclusion gaps faced by forcibly displaced persons in Nigeria and persons with visual disabilities in Pakistan to the data governance practices of popular remittance platforms in South Africa.
Last year’s selection process was guided by a distinguished panel of experts, who brought together extensive academic expertise, diverse disciplinary perspectives, and regional knowledge.
With the CfP gearing up for its second edition in the coming months, we wanted to build on this strong foundation by opening up Interledger’s academic network to a wider community of scholars who can contribute their expertise to future editions of the CfP. This led to the launch of the Expression of Interest (EoI): Call for Papers Reviewers.
The EoI welcomes experienced researchers, scholars, academics and practitioners from across disciplines to indicate their interest in being empanelled as potential selectors and/or reviewers of selected papers. It is open to scholars from around the world who share the CfP’s vision of supporting the creation of new knowledge on the societal, technological, and policy aspects of open payments, financial access, and related areas.
Why opt for a public call for experts?
In keeping with the spirit of openness and inclusion, a public call creates a pathway for new voices to be involved in the decision-making process. This is important given the wide scope of the CfP, which covers research ranging from regulatory and policy issues to the technical frontiers of interoperable payments. Geographic diversity matters just as much, especially given the CfP’s emphasis on encouraging research from the Global South. A well-rounded selection panel is therefore essential to the fairness and success of the CfP.
The case for building an open network of reviewers is equally compelling. The CfP is designed to be more than a financial grant. It incorporates the scholarly tradition of relying on peer review to ensure the quality and methodological rigor of the supported research. This calls for the ability to draw on the expertise of a diverse pool of scholars who are enthusiastic about reviewing papers aligned with their areas of interest and offering constructive feedback to help improve the work.
Why should experts opt in?
While there are multiple ways in which the CfP process will gain from the broad participation, it is an equally valuable opportunity for those who may choose to participate. Being associated with the expert panel presents a meaningful opportunity to help shape the open payments and financial access research agenda and bring greater visibility to under-researched questions and perspectives across domains.
Joining the Interledger community will also enable panel members to stay in the loop about the breadth of research and policy grants grant opportunities offered by the Foundation. These include the prestigious Interledger Fellowship for researchers, developers, advocates, and educators working on open financial systems, the NextGen Higher Education Grant, and Policy Activation Grants.
In recognition of the expertise and contribution involved, all panel members invited to serve on the Selection Committee or as peer reviewers will also receive an honorarium. While the honorarium is not intended to quantify the value of their contribution, it is an important gesture of appreciation for the time and commitment involved.
Finally, it is worth clarifying that responding to the EoI request will not automatically disqualify an individual from submitting a proposal for the CfP grant. Members from the empanelled list who are invited to join the CfP’s Selection Committee will have the opportunity to decline the request in case they are considering applying for the CfP grant or are otherwise unable to take up the role due to other commitments.
If this opportunity speaks to your interests, please take a few minutes to review and complete the EoI form (opens in a new tab), which will remain open until November 30, 2026. And if you know others whose expertise and perspective could help strengthen the CfP, please help spread the word by sharing this opportunity with your networks.
