Searching the Literature for Animal Testing Alternatives

Steps in the Research Process

Define the Question

Construct the Query

Select & Search Databases

Evaluate Your Search

Manage Your Results

Report Your Results

Under Section 2.31 (d)(1)(ii) of the Animal Welfare Act, the principal investigator is required to provide a written narrative to his or her Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee stating that alternatives to painful procedures have been explored and are not available. Animal Care Policy #12 of the USDA Animal Care Resource Guide, "Written Narrative for Alternatives to Painful Procedures" states:

When a database search is the primary means of meeting this requirement, the narrative must, as a minimum, include:

1. the names of the databases searched;
2. the date the search was performed;
3. the period covered by the search; and
4. the key words and/or the search strategy used.

Regardless of the alternatives source(s) used, the written narrative should include adequate information for the IACUC to assess that a reasonable and good faith effort was made to determine the availability of alternatives or alternative methods. The written narrative for federally-mandated animal testing (for example, testing product safety/ efficacy/ potency) needs only to include a citation of the appropriate government agency's regulation and guidance documents.

It will help your report to keep a log of the above four points for each search performed. This may be kept in a spreadsheet (such as Excel) or on worksheets such as this one (MS Word format).

In addition, an explanation of why an alternative was not used in the experimental procedure (if such is the case) must be appended to the literature search report.

In some fields, the development of new procedures in research may not be reported in journal literature, and thus may not be indexed in databases such as MEDLINE. In these cases, it is the responsibility of the principal investigator to ensure that a search of appropriate literature sources such as government reports and conference proceedings is performed.