Levels & Stone System

1 Purpose of the Levels & Stone System

The Levels & Stone System is X-PEN ID’s public trust and recognition layer. It helps readers understand how far a contributor’s profile has progressed in identity verification, credential verification, profile maturity, ecosystem responsibility, and recognised contribution. Levels show the contributor’s verified trust stage inside X-PEN ID, while stones show additional distinction awarded for notable, high, or exceptional contribution.

A level is not just decoration beside a name. It reflects a contributor’s verified identity, profile completeness, credential depth, responsible behaviour, and public trust record. A stone is different: it is an added recognition mark given by X-PEN ID/XRC when a contributor’s work, service, visibility, or impact deserves distinction beyond ordinary verification.

In this system:

• Level shows the contributor's verified trust stage inside X-PEN ID.
• Stone shows additional recognition awarded by X-PEN ID for notable, high, or exceptional contribution.

2 Levels vs. stones

In simple terms: levels answer "how trusted and verified is this profile?" Stones answer "has this contributor earned additional distinction?"

3 Five levels at a glance

X-PEN ID uses five public levels. Each level has a clear meaning. Higher levels require stronger evidence, deeper profile maturity, responsible ecosystem behaviour, and a clean integrity record.

Ecosystem responsibility

All verified contributors holding any level or stone become part of the X-PEN ID trust ecosystem. They may report fake profiles, flag suspicious claims, report bugs, and submit support signals where they personally know or recognise a contributor or relate to credential familiarity, institutional association, co-authorship, public profile consistency, or corrections to incorrect metadata.

4 Level 1 — Verified Identity

Level 1 means the contributor is a real person whose identity has been verified through an approved X-PEN ID verification route. It is the foundation level of the system.

Typical requirements

• Identity verified through XRC review, document verification, institutional confirmation, official-domain confirmation, or another approved route
• Active X-PEN ID account
• Basic public profile fields completed
• No confirmed impersonation, fraud, or serious unresolved integrity violation

5 Level 2 — Verified Contributor

Level 2 means the contributor is not only identity-verified, but also has at least one meaningful verified credential, contribution, or institutional record attached to the profile.

Typical requirements

• Level 1 achieved
• At least one verified credential or contribution, such as education, employment, internship, certificate, specialization, award, membership, event role, course, or recognized contribution
• Profile contains enough public information to give the identity meaningful context
• No confirmed serious integrity violation

6 Level 3 — Trusted Contributor

Level 3 means the contributor has developed a stronger verified profile and a higher trust record inside the platform. Their reports, support signals, and attestations may carry greater value in X-PEN ID's review system.

Typical requirements

• Level 2 achieved
• Multiple verified credentials, or one major verified credential supported by strong public contribution
• Substantially complete profile
• Cross-linked public identifiers where available, such as ORCID, Google Scholar, institutional profile, ResearchGate, LinkedIn, Scopus, Web of Science, SEIPID-linked records, DOI, ISBN, or other credible records
• Responsible platform behaviour
• No confirmed serious integrity violation, manipulation, or abusive reporting pattern

7 Level 4 — Recognised Contributor

Level 4 is for contributors whose record shows recognised contribution beyond basic verification. This level reflects deeper trust, stronger public traceability, and meaningful engagement with their field, community, institution, or the X-PEN ID ecosystem.

Typical requirements

• Level 3 achieved
• Strong verified profile with multiple meaningful entries
• Visible contribution in research, teaching, publishing, leadership, editorial work, mentoring, innovation, public service, creative work, institutional development, or community building
• Evidence of contribution beyond self-promotion
• Responsible reporting, support signals, or ecosystem participation where applicable
• Clean integrity record

Level 4 does not mean the contributor is famous. It means the contributor has a recognised and verifiable pattern of contribution.

8 Level 5 — Distinguished Contributor

Level 5 is the highest level of verified contributor maturity on X-PEN ID. It is reserved for contributors with rare, sustained, and exceptional contribution, leadership, service, or impact.

Typical requirements

• Level 4 achieved
• Exceptional record in scholarship, professional practice, publishing, institutional service, public contribution, innovation, education, creative work, or ecosystem leadership
• Sustained contribution over time
• Strong public traceability and verification depth
• No serious confirmed integrity violation

Level 5 is not a title badge. It is a trust and distinction level.

9 Ecosystem responsibility and trust signals

Every verified contributor is part of the X-PEN ID trust ecosystem. This means verified users may help the system become more accurate, safer, and more useful.

Verified contributors may help by:

• Reporting fake profiles, impersonation, false claims, or abusive behaviour
• Flagging incorrect metadata, broken links, duplicate records, or profile inconsistencies
• Submitting support signals for identity familiarity, credential familiarity, co-authorship, or institutional association
• Reporting bugs, technical errors, privacy concerns, or misuse of the platform
• Supporting accurate books, articles, certificates, events, and contribution records

10 The stone system

Stones are additional recognition marks awarded by X-PEN ID/XRC. They are not required for verification. They are not bought. They are not automatically generated by reaching a level.

Stones are designed to recognise remarkable contribution, public trust, scholarly or professional visibility, ecosystem support, and sustained positive impact.

The usual level relationship is a guide, not an automatic rule. XRC may consider rare cases separately where the contributor's record justifies review.

11 The three stones

Tanzanite — Notable distinction

Tanzanite recognises contributors who have moved beyond ordinary verification and shown notable contribution, promise, visibility, service, or ecosystem value.

• Strong verified profile
• Meaningful contribution in research, profession, creativity, teaching, public work, or platform improvement
• Responsible trust signals, reporting, or community support where applicable
• Good integrity record

Red Beryl — High distinction

Red Beryl recognises contributors with a stronger and more visible body of verified work, leadership, public contribution, or professional/scholarly impact.

• Clear pattern of contribution over time
• Verified and traceable public record
• Contribution beyond personal profile building
• Recognised work in academic, professional, editorial, institutional, social, creative, or ecosystem spaces

Painite — Exceptional distinction

Painite is rare. It is reserved for contributors whose record shows exceptional, sustained, and highly trusted contribution.

• Exceptional record of contribution, leadership, service, or impact
• Strong verified profile and public traceability
• Sustained contribution over time
• Manual XRC review
• Clean integrity record

12 How progression works

Progression from Level 1 to Level 5 may depend on a combination of verified evidence, profile maturity, public traceability, contribution quality, ecosystem behaviour, and XRC review.

Progression may consider:

• Identity verification status
• Number and quality of verified credentials
• Profile completeness and public usefulness
• Cross-linked identifiers and external records
• Books, articles, publications, public works, projects, courses, awards, and events
• SEIPID, DOI, ISBN, ORCID, institutional, journal, or publisher linkages where available
• Helpful reports, responsible support signals, and ecosystem participation
• Absence of confirmed fraud, impersonation, abuse, manipulation, or serious policy violation

13 Review, reduction, and revocation

Levels and stones are trust statements. They can be reviewed if new evidence appears or if a contributor's conduct changes.

A level or stone may be reviewed if:

• A verified credential is later found to be false, misleading, or unverifiable
• The contributor is involved in impersonation, fake identity, or fraudulent claims
• The contributor manipulates trust signals, reports, profile data, or contribution records
• The contributor uploads copyrighted or unauthorized material
• The contributor abuses other users, misuses the platform, or violates X-PEN ID policies
• XRC receives credible evidence requiring re-evaluation

Depending on the seriousness of the issue, XRC may request clarification, reduce a level, remove a stone, revoke verification, restrict the account, terminate the account, or record the matter under applicable integrity policies.

14 What levels and stones do not mean

Levels and stones must be read carefully. They are trust and recognition signals inside X-PEN ID, not universal judgments about a person's entire life or worth.

• They do not mean one human being is better than another
• They do not guarantee academic quality, employment suitability, or legal compliance outside the platform
• They do not replace institutional due diligence
• They do not prove every statement in a contributor's bio
• They do not mean that every self-added profile entry has been independently verified by XRC
• They do not guarantee that every publication or book is peer-reviewed, indexed, cited, or legally uploadable
• They do not give contributors authority to independently verify, punish, or approve other users
• They do not protect a contributor from review, reduction, revocation, or account action

15 Questions & contact

For questions about levels, stones, trust signals, review, appeals, or special cases, contact X-PEN ID through the appropriate channel:

• Levels, stones, and verification questions — verify@xpenid.com
• Integrity concerns or misuse reports — verify@xpenid.com
• Privacy or data concerns — privacy@xpenid.com
• Legal and compliance matters — legal@xpenid.com
• General questions — Contact form