Abstract

STANDARD OF REPORTING OF DETAILS OF EXPERIMENTAL ANIMALS IN ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN INDIAN & INTERNATIONAL JOURNALS

Dr. Manthan N. Mehta* and Dr. Kiran R. Deshmukh

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Several studies have demonstrated serious omissions in the way research that use animals is reported. In order to improve the quality of reporting of animal experiments, the Animals in research: reporting in vivo experiments (ARRIVE) Guidelines were published in 2010. The sections on experimental animals, housing and husbandry conditions are not well studied. The aim of this study was to compare the reporting standards in a national and international pharmacology journal. Methods: Original animal studies published in the Indian Journal of Pharmacology (IJP) and Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (JPET) between January 2014 and December 2015 were analyzed using the ARRIVE guidelines checklist for reporting details of experimental animals & housing and husbandry. A hundred articles were randomly chosen from each journal. Results: It was observed that 75% articles in IJP & 83% articles in JPET had mentioned species of animals. Information about the strain of animal used was reported in 96% articles in IJP & 61% articles in JPET. Age of the experimental animals was mentioned in 50% articles in IJP & 37% articles in JPET. Source of animals was mentioned in 63% articles in IJP & 78% articles in JPET. It was observed that type of caging was given in 25% articles in IJP & 43% articles in JPET. Information about cage companion or stocking density was given in 15% articles in IJP & 34% articles in JPET. Conclusion: Poor reporting of details of experimental animals was observed in both the journals. Researchers and editors need to adopt a more stringent policy when it comes to reporting animal experiments.

Keywords: ARRIVE, pre-clinical, research methodology.