Animal Research Guidelines

Animal Research

All studies involving animals should be conducted in accordance with the  National Institutes of Health (NIH) Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, and must indicate that the experimental protocols were approved by the institutional animal care and use committee.

For animals used in experiments, state the species, strain, sex, sources, number used, and other pertinent descriptive characteristics. For genetically modified animals, wildtype controls including background and back-crossing must be defined. Stock numbers should be supplied for commercial suppliers.

When describing surgical procedures on animals, identify the preanesthetic and anesthetic agents used and state the amount or concentration and the route and frequency of administration for each. The use of paralytic agents, such as curare or succinylcholine, is not an acceptable substitute for anesthetics. For other invasive procedures on animals, report the analgesic or tranquilizing drugs used. If none were used, provide justification for such exclusion.

Manuscripts reporting on animal research are expected to adhere to the ARRIVE guidelines (https://arriveguidelines.org/). Authors must report methods for randomization, allocation concealment, blinding, and other details as appropriate.