Toward Semantic Publishing in Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation: A Comprehensive Analysis of rTMS Studies

TL;DR

This paper advocates for standardized semantic reporting in NIBS research, demonstrating its application through a systematic review of 600 rTMS studies to enhance reproducibility and knowledge integration.

Contribution

It introduces a semantic publishing framework for NIBS studies, applying FAIR principles and knowledge graphs to improve data standardization and accessibility.

Findings

Structured descriptions enable better comparison of rTMS studies

Semantic publishing enhances reproducibility of NIBS research

Implementation in knowledge graphs facilitates data integration

Abstract

Noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS) encompasses transcranial stimulation techniques that can influence brain excitability. These techniques have the potential to treat conditions like depression, anxiety, and chronic pain, and to provide insights into brain function. However, a lack of standardized reporting practices limits its reproducibility and full clinical potential. This paper aims to foster interinterdisciplinarity toward adopting Computer Science Semantic reporting methods for the standardized documentation of Neuroscience NIBS studies making them explicitly Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR). In a large-scale systematic review of 600 repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), a subarea of NIBS, dosages, we describe key properties that allow for structured descriptions and comparisons of the studies. This paper showcases the semantic publishing of NIBS in the ecosphere of knowledge-graph-based next-generation scholarly digital libraries. Specifically, the FAIR Semantic Web resource(s)-based publishing paradigm is implemented for the 600 reviewed rTMS studies in the Open Research Knowledge Graph.