In search results where the application identifies PSMs by multiple search nodes within a single workflow, the protein grouping algorithm selects one of the PSMs identified for the same spectrum for building the protein groups.
In search results where the application identifies PSMs by multiple search nodes from multiple workflows (multi-consensus report), it treats PSMs and spectra from the different workflows as being separate, even if it searched the same raw data files and therefore the same spectra. In this case, it is difficult to determine whether the application searched the exact same spectra, because they might have changed in the different workflows.