ArticleNature reviews. Neuroscience2020
Reproducibility of animal research in light of biological variation.
Article in Nature reviews. Neuroscience, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 187 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
187 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Contemporary in vivo rodent electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) models in translational depression research: a systematic review.Translational psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Recommendations for robust and reproducible preclinical research in personalised medicine.BMC medicine · 2023Guideline
- Animal Models of Choroidal Neovascularization: A Systematic Review.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2022Pooled it
- Conventional laboratory housing increases morbidity and mortality in research rodents: results of a meta-analysis.BMC biology · 2022Pooled it
- What Went Wrong with VEGF-A in Peripheral Arterial Disease? A Systematic Review and Biological Insights on Future Therapeutics.Journal of vascular research · 2022Pooled it
- Reporting quality in preclinical animal experimental research in 2009 and 2018: A nationwide systematic investigation.PloS one · 2022Pooled it
- Systematic Review and Methodological Considerations for the Use of Single Prolonged Stress and Fear Extinction Retention in Rodents.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2021Pooled it
- Sexual dimorphism in trait variability and its eco-evolutionary and statistical implications.eLife · 2020Pooled it
- A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Relationship Between Social Dominance Status and Common Behavioral Phenotypes in Male Laboratory Mice.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2020Pooled it
- Integrating sex as a biological variable into one's science.Nature methods · 2026Article
- Efficacy of postmenopausal estrogen replacement in SIV-infected female macaques on antiretroviral therapy.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- A standardized and reproducible behavioral framework to elicit multiple aspects of visual spatial attention in mice.Cell reports methods · 2026Article
- Feasibility of longitudinal in vivo monitoring of pulmonary disease progression in mouse models using laboratory-based x-ray dark-field CT.European radiology experimental · 2026Article
- Epilepsy as a Multiscale Network Disorder: Integrating Precision Therapeutics and Emerging Experimental Platforms.Pharmaceutics · 2026Review
- Additive effects of environmental and demographic variation shape the repeatability of evolution across replicated experiments.Evolution letters · 2026Article
- Data Analysis Planning and Reporting for Confirmatory Multi-Lab Preclinical Trials: A Tutorial.Biometrical journal. Biometrische Zeitschrift · 2026Review
- Experimental robustness and reproducibility of the murine cecal ligation and puncture sepsis model.Intensive care medicine experimental · 2026Article
- Longevity inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Article
- A survey of researchers' attitudes to preregistration in animal research reveals multiple perceived barriers to adoption.PLoS biology · 2026Article
127 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
- Commented on by
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Context-dependent biological variation presents a unique challenge to the reproducibility of results in experimental animal research, because organisms' responses to experimental treatments can vary with both genotype and environmental conditions. In March 2019, experts in animal biology, experimental design and statistics convened in Blonay, Switzerland, to discuss strategies addressing this challenge. In contrast to the current gold standard of rigorous standardization in experimental animal research, we recommend the use of systematic heterogenization of study samples and conditions by actively incorporating biological variation into study design through diversifying study samples and conditions. Here we provide the scientific rationale for this approach in the hope that researchers, regulators, funders and editors can embrace this paradigm shift. We also present a road map towards better practices in view of improving the reproducibility of animal research.
Indexed as
Identifiers
32488205What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.