Data Provenance

Data provenance is the complete record of a dataset's origin and processing history — from acquisition parameters and quality assessments through every curation and analysis step. In electrophysiology, provenance answers: who recorded this, with what equipment, under what conditions, what quality metrics were observed, and what processing has been applied.

Why it matters: Without provenance, a dataset's interpretability decays with time. The person who recorded it may remember the conditions, but a collaborator, a reviewer, or a future lab member cannot. Provenance transforms data from a personal artifact into a shared scientific resource.

In Informed Electrophysiology: Provenance is enriched beyond standard acquisition parameters. Quality metrics from Informed Acquisition (SNR history, impedance trends, deviation alerts, intervention logs) become part of the provenance record. This quality provenance enables informed decisions at every downstream stage.

Standards: NWB (Neurodata Without Borders) provides a structured format for encoding provenance alongside neural data. FAIR principles require provenance as a condition of reusability.