Table 1.

Descriptions of terms important to establishing credibility of a computational model.

Term	Description
Context of use – COU	A statement that defines the specific role and scope of the computational model used to address a question of interest (ASME, 2018).a
Verification	The process of determining that a computational model accurately represents the underlying mathematical model and its solution (ASME, 2018).b
Validation	The process of determining the degree to which a model or a simulation is an accurate representation of the real world.
Sensitivity analysis	The process of determining how a change in a model input (e.g., parameters or initial conditions) affects model outputs.
Identifiability analysis	The process of determining the reliability of parameter estimates from model structure and experimental data.
Calibration	The process of tuning or optimizing parameters in a computational model to minimize the difference between model outputs and real world data.
Uncertainty quantification – UQ	The process of determining the uncertainty in model inputs (e.g., parameters or initial conditions) and computing the resultant uncertainty in model outputs (ASME, 2018).c
Applicability analysis	The process of assessing the relevance of the validation activities for a computational model to support the use of that model for a COU (ASME, 2018).d

Additional comments are provided in the footnote. ^a The COU can also include the other sources of evidence that will support the question of interest. ^b Verification activities are outside the scope of our review. ^c Common reasons for uncertainty in model inputs are measurement error or inter-/intra-individual variability. ^d Detailed discussion in Pathmanathan et al. (2017). UQ usually involves quantifying such uncertainty using probability distributions.