These "Guidelines for the use of flow cytometry and cell sorting in immunological studies" thus represent a community effort to collect the currently accepted best methods for monitoring most of the variation of the major players of immune system (along with their organelles and functionality) and include standards for data interpretation, as well as cautions about technical issues. One aspect of the guidelines concerns data reproducibility, a topic that has recently attracted considerable attention.
Therefore, the guidelines are meant to help researchers avoid potential pitfalls that could drastically alter the interpretation of their data.