Notes on fiber length measurements: A case study in the underbelly of open source neuroscience

Claude J Bajada; Robert E Smith; Svenja Caspers

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119738

Notes on fiber length measurements: A case study in the underbelly of open source neuroscience

Neuroimage. 2022 Dec 1:264:119738. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119738. Epub 2022 Nov 6.

Authors

Claude J Bajada¹, Robert E Smith², Svenja Caspers³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physiology and Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Malta, Msida, Malta; University of Malta MRI Research Platform (UMRI), University of Malta, Msida, Malta. Electronic address: claude.bajada@um.edu.mt.
² The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Melbourne Brain Centre - Austin Campus, Heidelberg, VIC 3084, Australia; Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia. Electronic address: robert.smith@florey.edu.au.
³ Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Research Centre Juelich, 52425 Juelich, Germany; Institute for Anatomy I, Medical Faculty & University Hospital Duesseldorf, Heinrich-Heine-University Duesseldorf, 40221 Düsseldorf, Germany.

Abstract

Being on the bleeding edge of research requires the use of new and regularly updated software. The result is the occasional and inevitable occurrence of bugs. In the following work we present a case study where a feature request introduced a bug in a neuroimaging software package, which had consequences for the quality of results in a published article. We discuss the process of diagnosis, rectification and analysis replication.

Keywords: Open science; Software bug; Tractography.