Alternatives Literature Searching Worksheet
When searching for alternatives, the 3Rs as defined by W.M.S. Russell and R.L. Burch (1959) in their
book The Principles of Humane Experimental Technique, are: replacement of animals with nonanimal techniques, reduction in the number of animals used, and refinement of techniques and
procedures that reduce pain or distress.
The worksheet is a tool used to 1) familiarize the information specialist, PI or researcher with the
protocol; 2) identify keywords and concepts that are important in the development of a search
strategy; 3) aid in the selection of appropriate topical databases or other on resources.
The use of this worksheet is completely voluntary; it is not submitted to the IACUC for a proposal
review. However, it is designed to assist with determining resources to consult and develop
effective search strategies to compile 3Rs-related information for the IACUC protocols at Virginia
Tech, namely section 9 for research, section 7 for instruction, as well as other sections of the form.
Pre-Search information
1. Principal Investigator:
2. Working title of animal study protocol and type of protocol (instruction/research)
3. General area of study: (e.g., drug testing, cardiology, toxicology, fetal alcohol syndrome, lipid
metabolism, etc.)
4. Proposed animal species: (e.g., swine, rats, dogs, primates, etc.)
5. Describe your experimental protocol including objectives and endpoints:
6. Proposed methods and/or procedures on animals and their relevance to the study
7. Identify the systems or anatomy involved in the study (e.g., lung, central nervous system,
kidney, etc.)
8. List any drugs or compounds used in procedures. (e.g., anesthetics, analgesics, test
compounds, etc.)
9. Any known species-specific considerations (e.g. housing, handling, behavior, etc)
10. Expected category of invasiveness:
___ A. Experiments on most invertebrates or on live isolates
___ B. Experiments which cause little or no discomfort or stress
___ C. Experiments which cause minor stress or pain of short duration
___ D. Experiments which cause moderate to severe distress or discomfort
___ E. Procedures which cause severe pain near, at, or above the pain tolerance threshold of
unanesthetized conscious animals
11. List any potential alternatives (e.g., alternate models, modified techniques, housing
modifications, modified restraint, in vitro methods, computer simulations, etc.)
A. Replacement:
B. Reduction:
C. Refinement:
Information Gathering
1. Database/resource selection (Choose those that are appropriate for the area of study):
____ Agricola
____ Biological Abstracts
____ Agriculture, Life Science, and
____ Cab Abstracts
Natural Resources
____ Current Contexts Connect
____ Entrez from the NLM
____ PubMed/Medline
____ Science Citation Index (Web of Science)
____ VetCD (Index Veterinarius)
____ Other:
2.
Database years of coverage: ______ to _____
3.
List key keywords/concepts using terminology from your responses to questions above (e.g.
animal species and synonyms, such as cat or feline, FIV or feline immunodeficiency virus, drug
testing, immune response, etc ).
4.
Develop search strategies, using (), AND, OR, NOT, and/or truncation wildcards such as * ? !
~ (swine OR pig* OR porcine) AND testing AND replacement NOT guinea
~ (rat* OR rattus) AND (stress) AND (hous* OR cage*) AND behavior?r
5.
Search strategies and resources used:
Keywords and concepts used in literature search
for:
Replacement Search
Databases used to search
Reduction Search
Refinement Search
6.
Other resources consulted, answer those that apply w/names, contact information, and job
title/experience
Other Resources consulted:
Description
Three Rs websites
List:
Experts consulted
Laboratory animal veterinarian:
Animal Welfare specialist:
Other investigator:
Statistician:
Other:
Information Review
1.
Did the 3Rs search determine any possible Replacement alternatives?
Replacement alternative No Yes If yes, describe and/or note citation:
category
Absolute Replacement
Relative Replacement
Other:
2.
Did the 3Rs search determine any possible Reduction alternatives?
Reduction alternative
No
Yes If yes, describe and/or note citation
category
Experimental Design
Sample Size Calculation
Animal Model Selection
Telemetry
Animal Supply Strategy
Data Sharing Strategy
Animal Re-use Strategy
Other:
3.
Did the 3Rs search determine any possible Refinement alternatives?
Refinement alternative
No
Yes If yes, describe and/or note citation
category
Animal Handling
Animal Housing
Anesthesia
Analgesia/Anesthesia
Blood & Tissue Sampling
Humane Endpoints
Welfare Assessment
Humane Killing
Other:
Information Synthesis
Questions to assess if your 3Rs search is complete:
1.
Is the proposed experiment or test duplicative?
2.
Is there useful and current information about the proposed animal model?
3.
Has a particular strain of animal been shown to be more sensitive to the effects that will be studied?
4.
Are there any in vitro techniques that could replace the use of animals?
5.
Could in vitro methods be incorporated into the protocol in any way to reduce the number of animals
used (e.g. for early screening)?
6.
Have any computer simulations been developed that relate to the study?
7.
Have any statistical models been developed for use in this type of study, would these affect the design
of the experiment?
8.
Are there alternative animal models of lower sentience?
9.
Is there information on the proposed model that might allow the use of fewer animals or might reduce
the pain experienced by the animals?
10. Is there a way to decrease the level of invasiveness of the protocol without compromising the scientific
objective?
11. Could the proposed anesthetics, analgesics, or other drugs pose a confounding influence on the
experimental outcome?
12. Is there information about assessing welfare and the level of pain of the animals?
Justification Table
Justification Topic
What are the potential benefits of
the animal use?
Explanation
Why were possible Replacement
alternatives rejected?
Why is the choice of animal model
appropriate?
Why were possible Reduction
alternatives rejected?
What is the statistical rationale for
sample sizes and sampling
frequency?
Why were possible Refinement
alternatives rejected?
Other:
This worksheet adapted from http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/alternatives/searches/altwksht.pdf
and http://3rs.ccac.ca/documents/en/Animal_use_protocol_worksheet.doc.
Last updated August 16, 2012.