{"id":"https://openalex.org/W4408876802","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10664-025-10639-9","title":"Why and how developers maintain smart contracts","display_name":"Why and how developers maintain smart contracts","publication_year":2025,"publication_date":"2025-03-24","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W4408876802","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10664-025-10639-9"},"language":"en","primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.1007/s10664-025-10639-9","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10664-025-10639-9","pdf_url":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10664-025-10639-9.pdf","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S109852484","display_name":"Empirical Software Engineering","issn_l":"1382-3256","issn":["1382-3256","1573-7616"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310319900","host_organization_name":"Springer Science+Business Media","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310319900","https://openalex.org/P4310319965"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Springer Science+Business Media","Springer Nature"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Empirical Software Engineering","raw_type":"journal-article"},"type":"article","indexed_in":["crossref"],"open_access":{"is_oa":true,"oa_status":"hybrid","oa_url":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10664-025-10639-9.pdf","any_repository_has_fulltext":false},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5101499242","display_name":"Giovanni Rosa","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5241-1608"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I129627893","display_name":"University of Molise","ror":"https://ror.org/04z08z627","country_code":"IT","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I129627893"]}],"countries":["IT"],"is_corresponding":true,"raw_author_name":"Giovanni Rosa","raw_affiliation_strings":["University of Molise, Pesche, Italy"],"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"University of Molise, Pesche, Italy","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I129627893"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5079406478","display_name":"Simone Scalabrino","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1764-9685"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I129627893","display_name":"University of Molise","ror":"https://ror.org/04z08z627","country_code":"IT","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I129627893"]}],"countries":["IT"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Simone Scalabrino","raw_affiliation_strings":["University of Molise, Pesche, Italy"],"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"University of Molise, Pesche, Italy","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I129627893"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5037263738","display_name":"S. Mastrostefano","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4306-3485"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I110120368","display_name":"National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development","ror":"https://ror.org/02an8es95","country_code":"IT","type":"funder","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I110120368"]},{"id":"https://openalex.org/I129627893","display_name":"University of Molise","ror":"https://ror.org/04z08z627","country_code":"IT","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I129627893"]}],"countries":["IT"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Stefano Mastrostefano","raw_affiliation_strings":["Nuclear Department (NUC), ENEA C.R., Frascati, Italy","University of Molise, Pesche, Italy"],"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Nuclear Department (NUC), ENEA C.R., Frascati, Italy","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I110120368"]},{"raw_affiliation_string":"University of Molise, Pesche, Italy","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I129627893"]}]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5009727039","display_name":"Rocco Oliveto","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7995-8582"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I129627893","display_name":"University of Molise","ror":"https://ror.org/04z08z627","country_code":"IT","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I129627893"]}],"countries":["IT"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Rocco Oliveto","raw_affiliation_strings":["University of Molise, Pesche, Italy"],"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"University of Molise, Pesche, Italy","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I129627893"]}]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":1,"institutions_distinct_count":4,"corresponding_author_ids":["https://openalex.org/A5101499242"],"corresponding_institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I129627893"],"apc_list":{"value":2290,"currency":"EUR","value_usd":2890},"apc_paid":{"value":2290,"currency":"EUR","value_usd":2890},"fwci":11.0747,"has_fulltext":false,"cited_by_count":3,"citation_normalized_percentile":{"value":0.97681068,"is_in_top_1_percent":false,"is_in_top_10_percent":true},"cited_by_percentile_year":{"min":95,"max":99},"biblio":{"volume":"30","issue":"3","first_page":null,"last_page":null},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10270","display_name":"Blockchain Technology Applications and Security","score":0.9993000030517578,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1710","display_name":"Information Systems"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10270","display_name":"Blockchain Technology Applications and Security","score":0.9993000030517578,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1710","display_name":"Information Systems"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11995","display_name":"FinTech, Crowdfunding, Digital Finance","score":0.9848999977111816,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1404","display_name":"Management Information Systems"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/14","display_name":"Business, Management and Accounting"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/2","display_name":"Social Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11182","display_name":"Auction Theory and Applications","score":0.9771000146865845,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1803","display_name":"Management Science and Operations Research"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/18","display_name":"Decision Sciences"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/2","display_name":"Social Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/computer-science","display_name":"Computer science","score":0.42242205142974854},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/business","display_name":"Business","score":0.3863941431045532},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/computer-security","display_name":"Computer security","score":0.33401304483413696},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/engineering","display_name":"Engineering","score":0.33058834075927734},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/human\u2013computer-interaction","display_name":"Human\u2013computer interaction","score":0.32300713658332825}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.42242205142974854},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C144133560","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4830453","display_name":"Business","level":0,"score":0.3863941431045532},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C38652104","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3510521","display_name":"Computer security","level":1,"score":0.33401304483413696},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C127413603","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11023","display_name":"Engineering","level":0,"score":0.33058834075927734},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C107457646","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q207434","display_name":"Human\u2013computer interaction","level":1,"score":0.32300713658332825}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":1,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.1007/s10664-025-10639-9","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10664-025-10639-9","pdf_url":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10664-025-10639-9.pdf","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S109852484","display_name":"Empirical Software Engineering","issn_l":"1382-3256","issn":["1382-3256","1573-7616"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310319900","host_organization_name":"Springer Science+Business Media","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310319900","https://openalex.org/P4310319965"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Springer Science+Business Media","Springer Nature"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Empirical Software Engineering","raw_type":"journal-article"}],"best_oa_location":{"id":"doi:10.1007/s10664-025-10639-9","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10664-025-10639-9","pdf_url":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10664-025-10639-9.pdf","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S109852484","display_name":"Empirical Software Engineering","issn_l":"1382-3256","issn":["1382-3256","1573-7616"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310319900","host_organization_name":"Springer Science+Business Media","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310319900","https://openalex.org/P4310319965"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Springer Science+Business Media","Springer Nature"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Empirical Software Engineering","raw_type":"journal-article"},"sustainable_development_goals":[],"awards":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/G8304569173","display_name":null,"funder_award_id":"2022S49T4W","funder_id":"https://openalex.org/F4320331528","funder_display_name":"Ministero dell'Universit\u00e0 e della Ricerca"}],"funders":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/F4320327546","display_name":"Universit\u00e0 degli Studi del Molise","ror":"https://ror.org/04z08z627"},{"id":"https://openalex.org/F4320331528","display_name":"Ministero dell'Universit\u00e0 e della Ricerca","ror":null}],"has_content":{"grobid_xml":false,"pdf":true},"content_urls":{"pdf":"https://content.openalex.org/works/W4408876802.pdf"},"referenced_works_count":31,"referenced_works":["https://openalex.org/W2139885493","https://openalex.org/W2513201734","https://openalex.org/W2586946380","https://openalex.org/W2804791132","https://openalex.org/W2805827286","https://openalex.org/W2808452017","https://openalex.org/W2831080282","https://openalex.org/W2921197708","https://openalex.org/W2964257386","https://openalex.org/W2970809537","https://openalex.org/W2975871742","https://openalex.org/W2999673069","https://openalex.org/W3009278394","https://openalex.org/W3092153088","https://openalex.org/W3105187050","https://openalex.org/W3116484444","https://openalex.org/W3194369791","https://openalex.org/W3204160722","https://openalex.org/W3215398284","https://openalex.org/W4214535690","https://openalex.org/W4306784136","https://openalex.org/W4312495723","https://openalex.org/W4312521218","https://openalex.org/W4388483609","https://openalex.org/W4391484042","https://openalex.org/W4391653691","https://openalex.org/W4400242044","https://openalex.org/W4400386317","https://openalex.org/W4400850128","https://openalex.org/W4403537098","https://openalex.org/W6920699356"],"related_works":["https://openalex.org/W4391375266","https://openalex.org/W2899084033","https://openalex.org/W2748952813","https://openalex.org/W2390279801","https://openalex.org/W4391913857","https://openalex.org/W2358668433","https://openalex.org/W4396701345","https://openalex.org/W2376932109","https://openalex.org/W2001405890","https://openalex.org/W4396696052"],"abstract_inverted_index":{"Abstract":[0],"Smart":[1],"contracts,":[2],"i.e.,":[3],"self-executing":[4],"contracts":[5,23],"written":[6,110],"in":[7,12,66,111],"code,":[8],"have":[9],"gained":[10],"popularity":[11],"recent":[13],"years":[14],"due":[15],"to":[16,87,132,194],"the":[17,76,113,123,129,143,155,158,163,179,183,187,198],"introduction":[18],"of":[19,165,182,186],"blockchain":[20],"technology.":[21],"These":[22],"are":[24,30,45,49,75],"executed":[25],"automatically":[26],"when":[27,43],"certain":[28],"conditions":[29],"met,":[31],"and,":[32],"once":[33],"deployed,":[34],"they":[35],"can":[36],"not":[37],"be":[38],"modified.":[39],"This":[40],"presents":[41],"issues":[42],"errors":[44],"found":[46],"or":[47,64],"updates":[48],"needed.":[50],"Previous":[51],"research":[52],"has":[53],"mainly":[54],"focused":[55,176],"on":[56,101,177],"introducing":[57],"approaches":[58,200],"and":[59,90,128,160,189],"tools":[60],"for":[61,118,157,202],"detecting":[62,203],"bugs":[63,196],"vulnerabilities":[65],"smart":[67,94,107,119,171],"contracts.":[68,95,120],"However,":[69],"it":[70],"is":[71,174],"unclear":[72],"if":[73],"these":[74],"only":[77],"maintenance-related":[78],"operations":[79],"developers":[80,92,141],"perform.":[81],"In":[82],"this":[83],"paper,":[84],"we":[85,138,149],"aim":[86,193],"understand":[88,133],"why":[89],"how":[91,140],"maintain":[93],"We":[96,121],"run":[97],"a":[98,147],"qualitative":[99],"analysis":[100],"590":[102],"commits":[103],"from":[104],"14":[105],"open-source":[106],"contract":[108,172],"repositories":[109],"Solidity,":[112],"most":[114],"popular":[115],"programming":[116],"language":[117],"analyze":[122],"commit":[124],"messages,":[125],"related":[126],"issues,":[127],"changes":[130,192],"made":[131],"what":[134],"triggered":[135],"changes.":[136],"Then,":[137],"examine":[139],"changed":[142],"source":[144],"code.":[145],"As":[146],"result,":[148],"define":[150],"two":[151],"taxonomies:":[152],"one":[153,161],"reporting":[154],"reasons":[156],"maintenance":[159,173],"regarding":[162],"patterns":[164],"modifications.":[166],"Our":[167],"findings":[168],"suggest":[169],"that":[170,190],"often":[175],"improving":[178],"internal":[180],"quality":[181],"scripts":[184],"(40%":[185],"cases),":[188],"many":[191],"fix":[195],"despite":[197],"several":[199],"available":[201],"them":[204],"beforehand.":[205]},"counts_by_year":[{"year":2026,"cited_by_count":1},{"year":2025,"cited_by_count":2}],"updated_date":"2025-12-28T23:10:05.387466","created_date":"2025-10-10T00:00:00"}