MIFlowCyt: The minimum information about a flow cytometry experiment

TLDR

Published results must be open to independent validation and refutation, and minimum data standards help data providers, users, and publishers by specifying what is required to interpret experimental findings unambiguously. The authors present the Minimum Information about a Flow Cytometry Experiment (MIFlowCyt) standard, defining the minimum information required to report flow cytometry experiments. A cross‑disciplinary international group of bioinformaticians, statisticians, software developers, instrument manufacturers, and researchers developed the standard, which was vetted by ISAC’s Data Standards Task Force and includes recommendations on specimen and reagent descriptions, instrument configuration, and data‑processing approaches. MIFlowCyt has been adopted by ISAC and by the scientific and publishing communities, facilitating third‑party understanding and reuse of flow cytometry data. © 2008 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry.

Abstract

Abstract A fundamental tenet of scientific research is that published results are open to independent validation and refutation. Minimum data standards aid data providers, users, and publishers by providing a specification of what is required to unambiguously interpret experimental findings. Here, we present the Minimum Information about a Flow Cytometry Experiment (MIFlowCyt) standard, stating the minimum information required to report flow cytometry (FCM) experiments. We brought together a cross‐disciplinary international collaborative group of bioinformaticians, computational statisticians, software developers, instrument manufacturers, and clinical and basic research scientists to develop the standard. The standard was subsequently vetted by the International Society for Advancement of Cytometry (ISAC) Data Standards Task Force, Standards Committee, membership, and Council. The MIFlowCyt standard includes recommendations about descriptions of the specimens and reagents included in the FCM experiment, the configuration of the instrument used to perform the assays, and the data processing approaches used to interpret the primary output data. MIFlowCyt has been adopted as a standard by ISAC, representing the FCM scientific community including scientists as well as software and hardware manufacturers. Adoptionof MIFlowCyt by the scientific and publishing communities will facilitate third‐party understanding and reuse of FCM data. © 2008 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry