Animal Alternatives: Literature Searching for Animal Research: A Guide

Many articles, books, and other guidelines have been published to help researchers find ways to reduce, refine, or replace animal subjects in research. This guide is designed to introduce you to the multi-step process necessary to conduct effective animal alternatives searches.

If you have questions or would like to meet with a research librarian to discuss your search, you can set up a research appointment a librarian. 

Please note that Librarians need at least 4 Business Days to complete a thorough search and submit a report. 

Save Time, Money, & Effort

By examining the literature, you may discover that other labs have already worked on certain parts of your research project, making running a duplicate experiment unnecessary. You may also discover alternative methods of animal care, animal treatment, or experimental design that require fewer or less expensive specimens. Conducting an extensive review of the literature can save you time and money while helping to improve your research results.

It's the Law!

The Animal Welfare Act requires the principal investigator to examine alternatives to potentially painful procedures. The USDA's Animal Care Resource Guide (maintained by the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service) provides more in depth guidance as to how best to meet this requirement. Policy 12: Consideration of Alternatives to Painful/Distressful Procedures outlines the requirements for conducting and reporting the results of a comprehensive literature search. The report a researcher writes to document the literature search should include (at minimum) the names of databases searched, the dates when the search was performed, the timespan of literature included in the search, and the specific search strategies used.