Brainhack Glossary (english)#
A#
Academia#
The societal community of individuals and groups associated with education, research, scholarship, and learning, especially through university settings or research institutions.
Accessibility#
The extent to which communities with different backgrounds, experiences, training, perspectives, and locations have the means to interact with, contribute to, and gain something from a project
Across Field#
Interdisciplinary approach combining expertise in different domains, such as different research topics or professions.
Ad-hoc#
A decision or action taken to address something immediately, without having been previously taken into consideration.
Attendee#
Any individual who attends or is present at the event, training, seminar, workshop, or activity (e.g., participant at Brainhack event, individual present at Brainhack workshop, etc.)
Audience#
The group that is addressed by intentional communication (e.g., those in attendance of an Open Science training). The target audience is a group of individuals that will be addressed or affected by the activity, training, communication, or action.
Availability#
The ability to have open access to a document, code, platform, etc. which allows a larger group of individuals to access, learn from, and collaborate on work.
B#
Background#
The multitude of past experiences a person has, which can include characteristics about their upbringing, country of origin, socioeconomic status, education, scientific training, and more.
Brainhack#
A hackathon that brings researchers together from a variety of neuroscience and neuroscience-adjacent subfields and diverse research backgrounds to share open science practices and encourage the transfer of knowledge across the community in a collaborative way.
Brainhack Global (BHG)#
An umbrella term that describes all hackathons and hacking events that fall under the international Brainhack initiative, allowing a central organizing committee to help coordinate, plan, and organize local Brainhack events all around the world. Brainhack Global is composed of a volunteer team of researchers from a variety of research institutions who lead global Brainhack efforts annually. This team is in charge of designing the proceedings of Brainhack Global, sharing information from Brainhack Global with individual local hackathon efforts, and maintaining the Brainhack Global materials, websites, and social accounts. Brainhack Global does not run a separate hacking event themselves at any specific location or time, but instead shares the information, materials, and broadcasts from all local event sites during the defined event period each year.
Brainhack Organization#
The planning and coordination of a Brainhack event. This happens through the efforts of local teams and the Brainhack Global committee.
Brainhack Organization Committee#
The team of volunteers in charge of designing the proceedings of Brainhack Global, sharing information from Brainhack Global with individual local hackathon efforts, and maintaining the Brainhack Global materials, websites, and social accounts. The team can be reached via social platforms including twitter (https://twitter.com/brainhackorg) and mattermost (https://mattermost.brainhack.org/).
(Brainhack School)[put a weblink to the school here!]#
A bootcamp that helps individuals acquire and solidify the statistical and computational skills required to translate neuroimaging data into neuroscience knowledge. Generally, the Brainhack School consists of two weeks of active, open, and collaborative hands-on work on small-to-medium size projects.
Brainstorming#
The creative process of generating new ideas by exploring solutions to existing problems, typically accomplished via conversation in groups
Brain Imaging Data Structure (BIDS)#
A standard for organizing, annotating, and describing neuroimaging and behavioral data based on an agreed-upon, formalized structure for folders and files.
Bottom-up#
Organizing and structure created through people working in the lower levels of an organization or community; all members of the community are equal stakeholders. This approach to organizational structure is general in contrast to top-down, where structure is imposed from a few individuals at the top of a hierarchy.
C#
Citation#
A well-established measure of research impact; recognition or validation of research by others (Hersh and Plume, 2016).
COBIDAS#
An OHBM committee created in June 2014 to represent the “Committee on Best Practice in Data Analysis & Sharing” (COBIDAS).
Code of Conduct#
Guidelines that establish the expected behavior of those in the community, outlining what is considered a violation of proper behavior, describing the process by which violations of the guidelines will be addressed, and stating who will be in charge of enforcing them.
Code-oriented#
Any project or approach relying heavily on reading, writing, or other uses of code.
Code Readability#
The subjective ease at which any given code can be understood and interpreted.
Collaboration#
The combination of ideas, expertise or contributions from multiple individuals on a given project.
Community#
A group of people who identify with a common characteristic, goal, interest, ideal, or any group of individuals who occupy similar physical spaces.
Community Building#
The act of strengthening bonds between community members through shared exercises or events which aim to increase inclusion and social connections within the community.
Community-driven#
A way of describing how change can be envisioned, created, and implemented by an interconnected group of individuals. See Bottom-Up.
Consent#
Permission given for something to happen, which can be removed at any time.
Contribution#
The addition of an idea, method, or another piece of tangible/intangible work to something (e.g., a project, idea or document).
Contributor#
Any individual who has contributed something back to the overall project. This is defined as any planning, organizing, writing, editing, brainstorming, suggesting, or contributing time to the project in any form.
Conventional#
The state of being generally accepted or established as the normal approach
Copyright#
The aspect of intellectual property that grants creators the right to permit (or not permit) the reproduction of their creations. It is distinct from trademark rights or moral rights.
Creative Commons (CC)#
A suite of standardized licenses that allow copyright holders to grant some rights to users by default. CC licenses are widely used, simple to use, machine readable, and have been created by legal experts. There are a variety of CC licenses, each of which use one or more clauses. Some licenses are compatible with Open Access in the Budapest sense (CC0 or those carrying the BY, SA, and ND clauses), and some are not (carrying the NC clause).
Cross-pollination#
The spread of ideas, actions or methods from one individual or domain to another.
Curriculum#
A collection of educational materials, lesson plans, or any other academic or training content taught as part of an educational course or program with a defined structure.
D#
Data#
All digitally available objects (simple or complex) that emerge or are the result of the research process.
DataLad#
An open source data management system enabling reproducibility and collaboration through various tools including dataset sharing and version control.
Data Mining#
An analytic process designed to explore data in search of consistent patterns or systematic relationships between variables, transforming data into information for future use.
Data Science#
An interdisciplinary field focused on understanding how to glean insight from structured and unstructured data. Sits at the intersection of computer science, statistics, and domain-specific knowledge or expertise.
Dataset#
A collection of data in one central file, and, in most instances, refers to a 2-dimensional flat file (i.e., rows and columns)
Data Structuring Standards#
The conventional and widely accepted method for organizing data or datasets.
Decentralized#
The act of redistributing organizational efforts from a specific group or location to all interested individuals in a community.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)#
A unique alphanumeric string assigned by a registration agency (the International DOI Foundation) to identify content such as journal articles, data sets or open source software releases and provide a persistent link to its location on the Internet (American Psychological Association, 2018).
Diversity#
The practice or quality of including individuals from a range of different social and ethnic backgrounds and of different gender identities, sexual orientations, professional backgrounds, etc.
Documentation#
Detailed information about the background and methodological approaches about data or code (e.g., description of the project, variables, and measuring instruments).
E#
Early Career Researcher (ECR)#
Non-tenured researchers including undergraduates, research assistants, graduate students, postdocs, and junior faculty.
Educational Materials#
Any collection of information (e.g., documents) that are used to teach or inform individuals.
Electroencephalography (EEG)#
A method of recording electrical activity in the brain through the use of electrodes on the scalp (the skin covering the top of the head).
Ethics / Research ethics#
The moral principles that govern how researchers should carry out their work. These principles are used to shape research regulations agreed by groups such as university governing bodies, communities or governments. All researchers should follow these regulations that apply to their work.
Expertise#
Advanced skill or knowledge in a certain area.
F#
FAIR Data#
Findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR) data, which facilitates knowledge discovery by assisting humans and machines in their discovery of, access to, integration and analysis of, task-appropriate scientific data and their associated algorithms and workflows. This definition is according to FORCE11 principles published in Nature Scientific Data.
Free#
Anything that is unconstrained (e.g., by money, time, or task).
Fully Open#
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)#
A neuroscience method that indirectly measures brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow associated with brain activity through the blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signal.
Funding#
Financial support granted to an entity for the purpose of development.
G#
GDPR#
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) seeks to create a harmonized data protection law framework across the EU. It aims to restitute the control of personal data to citizens, whilst imposing strict rules on those hosting and ‘processing’ these data, anywhere in the world. The Regulation also introduces rules relating to the free movement of personal data within and outside the EU.
Geographically Unbounded#
To be free of geographic constraints; to engage an audience that is not restricted to a certain location.
Github#
An online code hosting and version control service. It has a great many features to aid collaboration between users, and hosts a large number of open source projects.
Gitlab#
A web-based DevOps lifecycle tool that provides a Git-repository manager providing wiki, issue-tracking and continuous integration and deployment pipeline features, using an open-source license, developed by GitLab Inc.
H#
Hackathon#
The term hackathon is a portmanteau of “hacking” and “marathon”. Traditionally, it is an event where both individuals people and teams gather to collaboratively work on projects over the course of multiple days. These events often feature competitions between teams; however, Brainhacks do not have this feature and instead emphasize collaboration.
Hacking#
In this context, hacking does not refer to trying to break through the security of a computer system. Instead, it is understood as tinkering with a system to understand how it works, selecting a problem to learn how to solve it, or working with a process to gain knowledge on how to improve it.
Hands-on#
Any event or project that includes a practical activity which allows individuals to “learn by doing”.
Hypothesis#
A proposed explanation for observed phenomenon that can be tested through various forms of investigation.
I#
INCF#
An acronym for the International Neuroinformatics Coordinating Facility; an international non-profit organization that aims to create and distribute best practices in neuroscience.
Inclusivity#
The practice of providing equal access to all regardless of minority group status and actively seeking the engagement and contribution from these groups.
Informal#
To be unofficial or relaxed in nature.
Innovative#
New ways of thinking or doing that are a departure in some way from how they were done previously.
Institute#
An organization with a particular purpose in one or multiple professional domains.
Intellectual Property#
A legal term that refers to creations of the mind. Examples of intellectual property include music, literature, paintings, sculpturing, video and other artistic works; discoveries and inventions; and phrases, symbols, and designs.
J#
Journal#
A series of published research articles. Historically divided into volumes and issues.
K#
L#
Lab#
A group of individuals devoted to a specific research topic, typically situated within a specific research institution under a principal investigator
Leadership#
Adjective: Leading or directing a group towards a goal. Noun: The collective group of people formally or informally in charge
License#
This is a legal document that sets out the permissions for creative and academic work. It explains copyright, ensures proper attribution and sets out how others can copy, distribute and make use of the works.
Local Event#
An organized activity that occurs (e.g., conference, workshop) in a given region or location.
M#
Maintainers#
Contributors who are responsible for driving the vision and managing the organizational aspects of the project. They may also be authors and/or owners of the project.
Management#
Coordination and maintenance of something (e.g., a team or system).
Mattermost Community Forum#
An open source platform that enables communication and collaboration within and across teams.
Metadata#
Metadata provides a basic description of the data, often including authorship, dates, title, abstract, keywords, and license information. They serve first and foremost the findability of data (e.g. creator, time period, geographic location).
Methodology#
The systematic approach used for a particular activity such as analysis or reporting.
Model#
A representation of something that aims to explain or relate its elements in a unified and interpretable way.
Multidisciplinary#
To combine or involve multiple fields.
N#
Neurohackademy#
Neurohackademy is a summer school in neuroimaging and data science, held at the University of Washington eScience Institute (https://neurohackademy.org/).
Neuroimaging Pipeline Framework#
The structure of a workflow for processing or analyzing neuroimaging data.
Neuroscientist#
A person who studies the function of the nervous system.
Networking#
The act of connecting socially and/or professionally with others.
O#
OHBM#
The Organization for Human Brain Mapping (OHBM) is an international society dedicated to using neuroimaging to discover the organization of the human brain. The Society’s main purpose is that of advancing the understanding of the anatomical and functional organization of the human brain, and promoting its medical and societal applications (https://www.humanbrainmapping.org/).
OHBM Aperture#
An open-access publishing platform publishing a broad range of research objects, such as research reports, reviews, tutorials, educational materials, computational notebooks, software, and data papers.
Open Access#
Open Access refers to online, free of cost access to peer-reviewed scientific content with free reusability regarding copyright restrictions.
Open Access Publishing (gratis)#
The practice of making research publications available to anyone to read without charge.
Open Access Publishing (libre)#
Libre open access is gratis, meaning the research is available free of charge, but it goes further by granting users the right to copy, reuse, and remix the publication
Open Brain Consent#
An international initiative that provides data sharing resources and tools to neuroimaging researchers.
Open Data#
Open Data is online, free of cost, accessible data that can be used, reused and distributed provided that the data source is attributed.
Open Evaluation#
The development of a fair evaluation system or protocol for research proposals, based on transparency of the process and those involved.
Open Lab Notebooks#
A concept of writing about research on a regular basis, such that research notes and data are accumulated and published online as soon as they are obtained.
Open License#
A license is a document that specifies what can and cannot be done with a work. It grants permissions and states restrictions. Broadly speaking, an open license is one that grants permission to access, reuse and redistribute a work with few or no restrictions.
Open Materials#
Sharing of research materials, for example, biological and geological samples, is another Open Science practice.
Open Neuro#
A free neuroinformatics platform for sharing neuroimaging data.
Open Peer Review#
An umbrella term for a number of overlapping ways that peer review models can be adapted in line with the aims of Open Science, including making reviewer and author identities open, publishing review reports and enabling greater participation in the peer review process.
Open Science#
Movement which aims to improve the strength of scientific inferences and the effectiveness of scientific communication, by reducing questionable research practices, and making greater use of practices such as replication and pre-prints
Open Science Framework#
An open source software that enables FAIR and multidisciplinary collaboration in research.
Open Source#
Availability of source code for a piece of software, along with an open source license permitting reuse, adaptation, and further distribution.
Open Source Project#
A project in which a significant amount of collaboration between the core or leadership team and the wider community takes place in the form of online interactions. Community interactions should maintain transparency and openness of the project to facilitate the growth of your community.
Organic#
Something that occurs naturally or without effort.
Outcome#
The end result or final product of something.
P#
Participant#
An individual who takes part in something.
Peer Review#
A process by which a research article is vetted by experts from the community before publication.
Peer Working#
Collaborative and equal effort between individuals in the same field and stage of their career.
P-Hacking#
Collecting or selecting data or statistical analyses until non-significant results become significant (a questionable research practice).
Preprint#
A manuscript draft that has not yet been subject to formal peer review, distributed to receive early feedback on research from peers. a complete study report shared with a public audience without peer review. Often, preprints are also submitted for peer review and publication in a traditional scholarly journal.
Preregistration#
Researchers have the option or are required to submit important information about their study (for example: research rationale, hypotheses, design and analytic strategy) to a public registry before beginning the study. Preregistration can help counter reporting bias. Project
Project Leader#
Someone who instigates and/or directs a group of individuals in a given project.
Project Pitching#
The act of introducing a project in a concise and understandable manner.
Publication#
The release of a book, journal, or other document for public viewing or sale.
Publishing Venue#
The place where a given document or piece of information will be published, such as a journal.
R#
README File#
File where you document your research data. The documentation should be sufficient to enable other researchers to understand, replicate or reproduce the data or reuse them in any other way.
Redistribution#
Dissemination of something (e.g., information, duties) in a new way than what was done originally with the intention of increasing equality or fairness amongst individuals.
Registered Report#
A published report describing the hypotheses and planned method of a study, before the data is collected. Also known as a ‘pre-registration’ or ‘pre-reg’.
Reliability#
Typically defined as the ratio of within-subject variability to between-subject variability (ie. Intraclass correlation coefficient).
Reporting Bias#
Reporting bias occurs when certain aspects of a study are systematically not reported transparently, creating wastage and redundancy through selective reporting or non-publishing.
Repository#
The infrastructure and corresponding platform that allows for the persistent, efficient and sustainable storage, maintenance and access of digital objects (e.g., resources including documents, data or code). This keyword is often shortened to ‘repo’.
Reproducible Research#
Reproducibility is a spectrum and instructors should choose the definition most used by their audience. Generally speaking, reproducible research makes it possible to obtain similar results of a study or experiment and independent results obtained with the same methods but under different conditions (i.e., pertains to results). Some break the definition into levels of reproducibility, including computationally reproducible (also called “reproducible”): where code and data can be analyzed in a similar manner as in the original research to achieve the same results, and empirically reproducible (also called “replicable”): where an independent researcher can repeat a study using the same methods but creating new data.
Reproducibility#
The degree to which the same methods, results, and inferences of a study can be produced again. Methods reproducibility is the degree to which the methods described in a study report can be performed again. This may be limited by a vague description in the study report or lack of openness in the data. Results reproducibility is the degree to which the same results are produced, in a new study with the same method Inferential reproducibility is the degree to which the same inferences are drawn, either in a new study with the same method and results or in a re-analysis of the original study. Generally speaking, when discussing reproducibility it is important to specify the changing conditions across which measurement/findings are being reproduced. Computational reproducibility, cross-sample reproducibility, and cross-site reproducibility and other forms all specify the changing conditions under which reproducibility is being measured.
Research Funder#
An institute, corporation or government body that provides financial assistance for research.
Research Impact#
Involve academic, economic and societal aspects, or some combination of all three. Impact is the demonstrable contribution that research makes in shifting understanding and advancing scientific, method, theory and application across and within disciplines, and the broader role that this plays outside of the research system.
Reuse#
To make use of something more than one time or in a different way than was originally done.
S#
Sample Size#
The number of individuals observed in a given analysis.
Satellite Events#
Meetings that occur in a different location from the main or central meeting but are aligned with the central meeting in terms of goals and organization.
Scholarly Communication#
The creation, transformation, dissemination, and preservation of knowledge related to teaching, research, and scholarly endeavors; the process of academics, scholars and researchers sharing and publishing their research findings so that they are available to the wider academic community. The creation, transformation, dissemination, and preservation of knowledge related to teaching, research, and scholarly endeavors; the process of academics, scholars and researchers sharing and publishing their research findings so that they are available to the wider academic community.
Scientific Approach#
A standard and reliable procedure used in scientific fields for investigating a given research question.
Scientific Practice#
A standard, efficient and reliable approach used in the scientific community.
Scientific Validation#
The act of confirming something (e.g., a method or experiment) to ensure its usefulness and reliability.
Self-organizing#
The act of bringing something together by oneself without a governing entity overseeing the process.
Senior Researcher#
An individual who has achieved a level in their career allowing them to oversee major projects and supervise other researchers.
Study Protocol#
The particular procedure to conduct a given study.
Subscription#
A form of business model whereby a fee is paid in order to gain access to a product or service—in this case, the outputs of scholarly research.
T#
Tool#
Anything that can facilitate the development, improvement or expansion of something else (e.g., data).
Traditional#
Something (e.g., a method or theory) that is established, long-standing, or widely accepted.
Trainee#
An individual who is in the process of being trained.
Trainer#
The moderator and instructor of a training, whose role is to ensure the training objectives are met, run the practice, and ensure no one is left out.
Training#
Training is any organized activity that teaches, informs, or transfers skills or knowledge on specific useful competencies through active, engaged learning.
Training Format#
A conventionally named, standardized delivery method that is applied by a trainer and includes any number of the pedagogical tools necessary (i.e., motivation/demotivation, hands-on approaches, etc).
TrainTrack#
A series of educational talks or workshops that runs in parallel to the project tracks through which attendees collaboratively work on projects. The content of the TrainTrack can range from tutorials that teach hands-on skills needed for the projects in a Brainhack (e.g., like code version-control using Git) to software demos with much narrower applications.
Transparency#
The act of being or doing something (e.g., disseminating information) in an accessible, clear and comprehensive manner.
Toolbox#
A set of tools (e.g., software functions) centralized in one package.
U#
Unconference#
An unconference is a participant-driven meeting. The term “unconference” has been applied, or self-applied, to a wide range of gatherings that try to avoid hierarchical aspects of a conventional conference, such as sponsored presentations and top-down organization [1]. Commonly, participants present their research, project work, or any other topics of current interest in an informal setting to other participants. The content of an unconference is usually decided very shortly before or during the Brainhack event itself, often inspired by ongoing within-team discussions that could be of interest to the larger group.
Unconventional#
Not conforming to an established belief or method.
V#
Version Control#
Version control is the management of changes to documents, computer programs, large web sites, and other collections of information in a logical and persistent manner, allowing for both track changes and the ability to revert a piece of information to a previous revision.
Version Control System#
The mechanism or platform enabling version control (e.g., Git).
W#
Workforce#
The labor pool of a given institution, company, state, or group. It can be formal or informal, but either way, its main function is to unite.
Workflow#
The general step-by-step plan for a given project or experiment.
Workshop#
A joint project in which participants engage in a particular activity.
Y#
Z#
References#
Wikipedia contributors. Unconference — Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2021. [Online; accessed 22-Feb-2021]. URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Unconference&oldid=998188187.