A human autophagy interaction network.

The original "Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy in higher eukaryotes" has been well received and used by many researchers and authors. I consider these to be very important guidelines that require a consensus among the researchers in the field, because they are used by authors to defend against inappropriate reviewers' comments, and by reviewers to point out to editors the flaws in research papers. Accordingly, I decided it was time to revise and update the guidelines. After all, the field has expanded substantially, as has the range of model systems being used to analyze autophagy. As a result, the list of authors has similarly increased. In addition, this version of the guidelines is not limited to higher eukaryotes nor to macroautophagy. Here, I explain the approach used to invite authors to participate in the revised guidelines, and briefly demonstrate one aspect of their utility.