title: Recommendations for minimum information for publication of experimental pathology data: MINPEPA guidelines.
abstract: Animal models are essential research tools in modern biomedical research, but there are concerns about their lack of reproducibility and the failure of animal data to translate into advances in human medical therapy. A major factor in improving experimental reproducibility is thorough communication of research methodologies. The recently published ARRIVE guidelines outline basic information that should be provided when reporting animal studies. This paper builds on ARRIVE by providing the minimum information needed in reports to allow proper assessment of pathology data gathered from animal tissues. This guidance covers aspects of experimental design, technical procedures, data gathering, analysis, and presentation that are potential sources of variation when creating morphological, immunohistochemical (IHC) or in situ hybridization (ISH) datasets. This reporting framework will maximize the likelihood that pathology data derived from animal experiments can be reproduced by ensuring that sufficient information is available to allow for replication of the methods and facilitate inter-study comparison by identifying potential interpretative confounders.
authors.affiliation: Mary Lyon Centre, MRC Harwell, Oxfordshire, UK.
authors.forename: Cheryl L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Scudamore
authors.affiliation: Nuffield Division of Clinical Laboratory Sciences, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: Elizabeth J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Soilleux
authors.affiliation: Mouse Informatics Group, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: Natasha A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Karp
authors.affiliation: Pathology and Pathogen Biology, Royal Veterinary College, Hertfordshire, UK.
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Blizard Institute, Queen Mary University of London, UK and Scientific Editor, The Journal of Pathology.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8567-3543
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Poulsom
authors.affiliation: Edinburgh Cancer Research Centre, Institute of Genetics & Molecular Medicine, Edinburgh, UK and Editor in Chief, The Journal of Pathology.
authors.forename: C Simon
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9177-8165
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Herrington
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Sciences, University of Bristol, Langford, UK.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Day
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA.
authors.forename: Cory F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Brayton
authors.affiliation: GEMpath Inc, Longmont, Colorado, USA.
authors.forename: Brad
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bolon
authors.affiliation: The Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Bruce
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Whitelaw
authors.affiliation: Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, USA.
authors.forename: Eric S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: White
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Jeffrey I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Everitt
authors.affiliation: Centre for Comparative Pathology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Mark J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Arends
mesh_terms: D032761:Animal Experimentation; D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination; D023421:Models, Animal; D010336:Pathology / Q000379:methods*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011642:Publications; D012107:Research Design; D057170:Translational Research, Biomedical
keywords: ARRIVE; experimental pathology; guidelines; review; translational research