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National Research Council (US) Institute for Laboratory Animal Research. Guidance for the Description of Animal Research in Scientific Publications. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2011.
ITEM | RECOMMENDATION | |
---|---|---|
TITLE | 1 | Provide as accurate and concise a description of the content of the article as possible. |
ABSTRACT | 2 | Provide an accurate summary of the background, research objectives, including details of the species or strain of animal used, key methods, principal findings and conclusions of the study. |
INTRODUCTION | ||
Background | 3 |
|
Objectives | 4 | Clearly describe the primary and any secondary objectives of the study, or specific hypotheses being tested. |
METHODS | ||
Ethical statement | 5 | Indicate the nature of the ethical review permissions, relevant licences (e.g. Animal [Scientific Procedures] Act 1986), and national or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals, that cover the research. |
Study design | 6 | For each experiment, give brief details of the study design including:
|
Experimental procedures | 7 | For each experiment and each experimental group, including controls, provide precise details of all procedures carried out. For example:
|
Experimental animals | 8 |
|
Housing and husbandry | 9 | Provide details of:
|
Sample size | 10 |
|
Allocating animals to experimental groups | 11 |
|
Experimental outcomes | 12 | Clearly define the primary and secondary experimental outcomes assessed (e.g. cell death, molecular markers, behavioural changes). |
Statistical methods | 13 |
|
RESULTS | ||
Baseline data | 14 | For each experimental group, report relevant characteristics and health status of animals (e.g. weight, microbiological status, and drug or test naïve) prior to treatment or testing. (This information can often be tabulated). |
Numbers analysed | 15 |
|
Outcomes and estimation | 16 | Report the results for each analysis carried out, with a measure of precision (e.g. standard error or confidence interval). |
Adverse events | 17 |
|
DISCUSSION | ||
Interpretation/scientific implications | 18 |
|
Generalisability/translation | 19 | Comment on whether, and how, the findings of this study are likely to translate to other species or systems, including any relevance to human biology. |
Funding | 20 | List all funding sources (including grant number) and the role of the funder(s) in the study. |
The guidelines are intended to
- —
Improve reporting of research using animals.
- —
Guide authors as to the essential information to include in a manuscript, and not be absolutely prescriptive.
- —
Be flexible to accommodate reporting a wide range of research areas and experimental protocols.
- —
Promote reproducible, transparent, accurate, comprehensive, concise, logically ordered, well written manuscripts.
- —
Improve the communication of the research findings to the broader scientific community.
The guidelines are NOT intended to
- —
Promote uniformity, stifle creativity, or encourage authors to adhere rigidly to all items in the checklist. Some of the items may not apply to all studies, and some items can be presented as tables/figure legends or flow diagrams (e.g. the numbers of animals treated, assessed and analysed).
- —
Be a guide for study design and conduct. However, some items on the checklist, such as randomisation, blinding and using comparator groups, may be useful when planning experiments as their use will reduce the risk of bias and increase the robustness of the research.
What kind of research areas do the guidelines apply to?
- —
The guidelines will be most appropriate for comparative studies, where two or more groups of experimental animals are being compared; often one or more of the groups may be considered as a control. They apply also to studies comparing different drug doses, or, for example, where a single animal is used as its own control (within–subject experiment).
- —
Most of the recommendations also apply to studies that do not have a control group.
- —
The guidelines are suitable for any area of bioscience research where laboratory animals are used.
Who are the guidelines aimed at?
- —
Novice and experienced authors
- —
Journal editors
- —
Peer reviewers
- —
Funding bodies
How might these guidelines be used?
The guidelines provide a checklist for those preparing or reviewing a manuscript intended for publication.
References
- 1.
- Kilkenny C, Browne WJ, Cuthill IC, Emerson M, Altman DG. Improving Bioscience Research Reporting: The ARRIVE Guidelines for Reporting Animal Research. PLoS Biol. 2010;8(6):e1000412. [PMC free article: PMC2893951] [PubMed: 20613859] [CrossRef]
- 2.
- Schulz KF, Altman DG, Moher D. the CONSORT Group. CONSORT 2010 Statement: updated guidelines for reporting parallel group randomised trials. BMJ. 2010;340:c332. [PMC free article: PMC2844940] [PubMed: 20332509]
Acknowledgements
The NC3Rs gratefully acknowledges the expertise and advice that all the contributors have given to developing the guidelines. We would particularly like to acknowledge the contribution of the NC3Rs Reporting Guidelines Working Group† – Professor Doug Altman, Centre for Statistics in Medicine, University of Oxford UK, Professor David Balding, Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, Imperial College, London UK, Professor William Browne, Department of Clinical Veterinary Science, University of Bristol UK, Professor Innes Cuthill, School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol UK, Dr Colin Dunn, Editor Laboratory Animals (Royal Society of Medicine press), Dr Michael Emerson, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College, London UK, Dr Stella Hurtley, Senior Editor Science, Professor Ian McGrath, Editor-in-Chief British Journal of Pharmacology (Wiley Blackwell Publishers) and Dr Clare Stanford, Department of Psychopharmacology, University College, London UK. We would also like to thank NC3Rs grant holders, the Medical Research Council, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), Wellcome Trust, Parkinson’s Disease Society, British Heart Foundation and their grant holders and funding committee members who provided feedback on the guidelines; and Kathryn Chapman and Vicky Robinson (both NC3Rs) for their help with the manuscript.
Funding
The reporting guidelines project was funded by the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs).
Footnotes
- 7
Reprinted with permission from the UK National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (www
.nc3rs.org.uk). Originally published in PLoS Biology, June 2010 (volume 8, issue 6). - †
Please note that the working group members who contributed to these guidelines were advising in their personal capacity and their input does not necessarily represent the policy of the organisations with which they are associated.
- Animal Research: Reporting In Vivo Experiments: The ARRIVE Guidelines - Guidance...Animal Research: Reporting In Vivo Experiments: The ARRIVE Guidelines - Guidance for the Description of Animal Research in Scientific Publications
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