Estimating Costs
Reproducible neuroimaging principles: 1. Study planning.
How much will it cost?
Implementing best practices for reproducible neuroimaging requires resources and effort. The new NIH policy for Data Management and Sharing allows investigators to allocate budget for implementing good data and software management so that data can be shared effectively and efficiently. Bringing reproducible neuroimaging practicesto the lab saves time and money in the long run, and results in a better product (see the experiences and cost analysis of Bush et al., 2022). But getting started can require a bit of an investment. How much? It depends on where you are starting. Here are some questions to ask when considering time, effort and cost:
- Direct Resource Cost: Are the infrastructure requirements currently met? (e.g., cloud infrastructure and physical hardware)
- What tools and standards need to be adopted?
- Do any lab members/collaborators already have experience with the new tools and standards?
- How comfortable are any collaborators with technical fundamentals like the command line?
The good news is that many of the costs involved in employing ReproNim tools and best practices are up front and will go down over time.