Since its conception in April 2002, the Human Proteome Organisation Proteomics Standards Initiative has contributed to the development of community standards for proteomics in a collaborative and very dynamic manner, resulting in the publication and increasing adoption of a number of interchange formats and controlled vocabularies. Repositories supporting these formats are being established or are already operational. In parallel with this, minimum reporting requirement have been developed and are now maturing to the point where they have been submitted for journal publication after prolonged exposure to community-input via the PSI website.