Toward standard practices for sharing computer code and programs in neuroscience

Stephen J Eglen; Ben Marwick; Yaroslav O Halchenko; Michael Hanke; Shoaib Sufi; Padraig Gleeson; R Angus Silver; Andrew P Davison; Linda Lanyon; Mathew Abrams; Thomas Wachtler; David J Willshaw; Christophe Pouzat; Jean-Baptiste Poline

doi:10.1038/nn.4550

Toward standard practices for sharing computer code and programs in neuroscience

Nat Neurosci. 2017 May 25;20(6):770-773. doi: 10.1038/nn.4550.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Cambridge Computational Biology Institute, Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
² Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
³ Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA.
⁴ Institute of Psychology II, Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany.
⁵ Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences, Magdeburg, Germany.
⁶ Software Sustainability Institute, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
⁷ Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London, London, UK.
⁸ Unité de Neurosciences, Information et Complexité, CNRS, Gif sur Yvette, France.
⁹ International Neuroinformatics Coordinating Facility, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
¹⁰ Department of Biology II, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany.
¹¹ Institute for Adaptive and Neural Computation, School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
¹² MAP5 Paris-Descartes University and CNRS UMR 8145, Paris, France.
¹³ Henry H. Wheeler, Jr. Brain Imaging Center, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA.

PMID: 28542156
PMCID: PMC6386137
DOI: 10.1038/nn.4550

Abstract

Computational techniques are central in many areas of neuroscience, and are relatively easy to share. This paper describes why computer programs underlying scientific publications should be shared, and lists simple steps for sharing. Together with ongoing efforts in data sharing, this should aid reproducibility of research.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Computational Biology
Documentation
Information Dissemination
Neurosciences / trends*
Software*

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding