The Minimal Information About a Proteomics Experiment (MIAPE) from the Proteomics Standards Initiative

During the last 10 years, the Proteomics Standards Initiative from the Human Proteome Organization (HUPO-PSI) has worked on defining standards for proteomics data representation as well as guidelines that state the minimum information that should be included when reporting a proteomics experiment (MIAPE). Such minimum information must describe the complete experiment, including both experimental protocols and data processing methods, allowing a critical evaluation of the whole process and the potential recreation of the work. In this chapter we describe the standardization work performed by the HUPO-PSI, and then we concentrate on the MIAPE guidelines, highlighting its importance when publishing proteomics experiments particularly in specialized proteomics journals. Finally, we describe existing bioinformatics resources that generate MIAPE compliant reports or that check proteomics data files for MIAPE compliance.