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A detailed exposition of the nucleon-nucleon elastic scattering formalism is presented, reviewing known results and adding some new ones. Several différent représentations of the scattering matrix are reviewed, paying attention to symmetry principles like parity conservation, time reversal invariance, the Pauli principle and iso-spin invariance. Expérimental quantities in the centre-of-mass and laboratory systems are expressed in terms of scattering amplitudes. Relations between experimental quantities in each of these systems, following from the above mentioned symmetries, are spelt out in détail, as are relations between l.s. and c.m.s. quantities. A général formula for the angular distribution of correlated scattering is given and discussed. This formula involves all existing expérimental quantities. It can be specialized to describe any chosen experiment by specifying the initial polarizations and final analyzing powers. Conséquences of the Pauli principle for the scattering of identical nucleons are studied. Relations between c.m.s. quantities measured at the c.m.s. angles θ and π - θ or at l.s. angles θ1 and θ2 (scattering and recoil angle) are obtained. Spécial attention is paid to relations at θ = π/2, i.e. θ1 = θ2. The material contained in this paper should be useful for experimentalists and for phenomenologists interested in the reconstruction of scattering amplitudes from data.