Searching for Animal Alternatives  Tags: iacuc animal  

Searching for alternatives means looking for ways to...
Refine: employ techniques that reduce pain and distress
Reduce: minimize the number of animals used
Replace: substitute animal with nonanimal methods or lower organisms

"...the performance of a database search remains the most effective and efficient method for demonstrating compliance with the requirement to consider alternatives to painful/distressful procedures." The database search narrative must, at a minimum, include:

• Names of the databases/web sites searched
• Date the search was performed
• Period covered by the search
• Key words and/or the search strategy used

USDA Animal Care Policy Manual

General

• alternative • animal testing alternative • assay • distress • euthanasia • learn • learning • method • model • pain • replace • replacement • surrogate • system • teach • teaching • technique

Replacement

• aided/assisted • artificial • cadaver • computers • image • imaging • instruction • interactive • mathematical model(ing) • model(ing) • prediction • simulation • software • teaching • theoretical model(ing) • virtual

Reduction

• statistics • stastical combined with • analysis • experimental design • model • reduce • reduction

Refinement

• distress • (non-)invasive • pain • postoperative • postsurgery • stress• anaethesia • anaesthetic • analgesia • analgesic • anxiolytic • sedative• animal combined with • cage • caging • euthanaia • housing • husbandry • welfare

Hart LA, Wood MW and Weng, H-Y. "Effective searching of the scientific literatre for alternatives: search grids for appropriate databases. Animal Welfare 2005 (14) 287-289.

Smith AJ and Allen T. "The use of databases, information centres and guidelines when planning research that may involove animals." Animal Welfare 2005 (14) 347-359.

Preplan write out terms, synonyms, and list which databases to search
Determine general area of study/research topic
Description of the procedure being used and why
Which organ systems are involved
List of drugs or chemicals being used
Choose animal species/animal model
Truncate works with the same stem (sulph* will retrieve sulphuric, sulphurous, sulphate, etc)
Start with single concepts, combine using AND to refine the result set
Limit to particular time period can also help refine the set if it is too big
Use OR when the search set is too narrow (rats OR rodents)
Use OR to look for term variants (mice OR mouse OR murine)
Remember American & British spellings can be different (behavior, behaviour)

In addition to this libguide, the library offers assistance with search guidance, one-on-one tutorials or group classes as well as mediated searches. Please call x4314 or email us if you need further help.