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Animal Research Alternatives and Animal Care : Preparing for a Literature Search

A guide for finding alternatives to the use of animals in laboratory research.

Plan a Literature Search

USDA/Animal Care Policy #12 states that database searches remain the most effective and efficient method for demonstrating compliance with the requirement to consider unnecessary duplication of research.

There are many ways to approach searching a database for animal alternatives.  Links to articles addressing some of the approaches are included in the box to the right. A simplified method is provided here:

First gather information to familiarize yourself with the planned protocol including:

  • the general area of study
  • the species and organ system being studied
  • important synonyms, acronyms and international spellings
  • names of hormones, enzymes, CAS#, trade names
  • prominent authors in the field including the investigator
  • prior knowledge of possible alternatives to use of animals
  • prior knowledge of possible alternatives to intended procedures
  • results of previous searches including keywords used.

 

Here is a worksheet useful for recording this information: Worksheet and Instructions for Alternatives Literature Searching

 Use the information gathered above to develop search terms for the general field of study and the research topic. Then refer to Tab 2 "Formulating a Search Strategy" for suggested terminology for retrieving citations relevant to the 3 Rs. 

Further Help with Literature Searching