In your discussion of waning participation in volunteer computing projects (Nature 506, 16–17; 2014), you omit to mention the most important motivator of all — contribution to scientific progress.

For instance, a review of completed projects on IBM's World Community Grid for biomedical research uncovers a lacklustre track record in scientific output (see go.nature.com/fkheej). Four out of 16 of these projects have yet to produce any publications, even though the earliest project was completed more than 5 years ago. Others have generated only non-peer-reviewed output, such as book chapters or conference proceedings. Of the peer-reviewed publications, several focused solely on the technical aspect of distributed computing, with no analysis of the computed results.

To maintain the viability of volunteer computing projects, researchers should be reminded that public support and confidence are gained through professional and timely communication of results. Otherwise, online titles or badges amount to no more than virtual candy.