Zeitschrift für Bioingenieurwesen und Medizintechnik

Review of Guidelines for Rigour in the Design, Conduct, and Analysis of Biomedical Experiments Involving Animals

Manea Hazzaa

In recent years, there has been an increasing awareness of the harmful consequences of unstandardized preclinical and biomedical research planning, conduct, and reporting [1]. Several initiatives, such as Collaborative Approach to Meta-Analysis and Review of Animal Data from Experimental Studies (CAMARADES), National Centre for the 3Rs (NC3Rs), Systematic Review Centre for Laboratory Animal Experimentation (SYRCLE), and the Enhancing the Quality and Transparency of Health Research (EQUATOR) network, have set the goal of increasing validity and reliability in reporting of (not only preclinical) studies and publications.

Similar associations have arisen among publishers for example, The Lancet's Reduce Research Waste and Reward Diligence (REWARD) projects. The goal of this systematic review is to identify and harmonize current preclinical animal research experimental design, conduct, and analytic protocols. The review will also look for literature that describes bias hazards in preclinical biomedical research design, conduct, and analysis either through primary research or systematic review. Reporting standards will be taken into account if they refer to themes that should be examined at the planning or experimental stages, not just at the reporting stage. Internal validity and repeatability of experimental design, conduct, and analysis will be the emphasis of this review.