ArticleBMJ open science2020
Systematic review of guidelines for internal validity in the design, conduct and analysis of preclinical biomedical experiments involving laboratory animals.
Article in BMJ open science, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers, 6 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
38 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The effect of acupuncture on oxidative stress in animal models of vascular dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Recommendations for robust and reproducible preclinical research in personalised medicine.BMC medicine · 2023Guideline
- Neuroimaging findings in preclinical amyotrophic lateral sclerosis models-How well do they mimic the clinical phenotype? A systematic review.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2023Pooled it
- Cannabidiol in clinical and preclinical anxiety research. A systematic review into concentration-effect relations using the IB-de-risk tool.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Development and uptake of an online systematic review platform: the early years of the CAMARADES Systematic Review Facility (SyRF).BMJ open science · 2021Pooled it
- Reporting of measures against bias in nonclinical published research studies: a journal-based comparison.Research integrity and peer review · 2025Article
- Prospective Harmonization, Common Data Elements, and Sharing Strategies for Multicenter Pre-Clinical Traumatic Brain Injury Research in the Translational Outcomes Project in Neurotrauma Consortium.Journal of neurotrauma · 2025Article
- Effects of Aerobic Exercise on Myocardial Injury in Sleep Deprived Mice.Nature and science of sleep · 2025Article
- Impact of Obstructive Sleep Apnea on Endometrial Function in Female Rats: Mechanism Exploration.Nature and science of sleep · 2025Article
- Real-world effects of hyoscine butylbromide combined with paracetamol in women with dysmenorrhea: a patient survey.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Article
- Synthesizing regulatory guidance for demonstrating preclinical efficacy and translating promising cell therapies to early phase clinical trials: a scoping review.BMC medicine · 2024Article
- Effects of a proprietary mixture of extracts fromFrontiers in pharmacology · 2024Article
- Improving Translational Relevance in Preclinical Psychopharmacology (iTRIPP).Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2023Article
- Differential Influences of Endogenous and Exogenous Sensory Neuropeptides on the ATP Metabolism by Soluble Ectonucleotidases in the Murine Bladder Lamina Propria.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- From data deluge to publomics: How AI can transform animal research.Lab animal · 2023Article
- Animal Models for the Investigation of P2X7 Receptors.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- The role of intracellular calcium and Rho kinase pathways in G protein-coupled receptor-mediated contractions of urinary bladder urothelium and lamina propria.American journal of physiology. Cell physiology · 2023Article
- Optimizing and Accelerating the Development of Precision Pain Treatments for Chronic Pain: IMMPACT Review and Recommendations.The journal of pain · 2023Review
- Association of diabetes, hypertension, and their combination with basal symptoms and treatment responses in overactive bladder patients.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
16 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Over the last two decades, awareness of the negative repercussions of flaws in the planning, conduct and reporting of preclinical research involving experimental animals has been growing. Several initiatives have set out to increase transparency and internal validity of preclinical studies, mostly publishing expert consensus and experience. While many of the points raised in these various guidelines are identical or similar, they differ in detail and rigour. Most of them focus on reporting, only few of them cover the planning and conduct of studies. The aim of this systematic review is to identify existing experimental design, conduct, analysis and reporting guidelines relating to preclinical animal research. A systematic search in PubMed, Embase and Web of Science retrieved 13 863 unique results. After screening these on title and abstract, 613 papers entered the full-text assessment stage, from which 60 papers were retained. From these, we extracted unique 58 recommendations on the planning, conduct and reporting of preclinical animal studies. Sample size calculations, adequate statistical methods, concealed and randomised allocation of animals to treatment, blinded outcome assessment and recording of animal flow through the experiment were recommended in more than half of the publications. While we consider these recommendations to be valuable, there is a striking lack of experimental evidence on their importance and relative effect on experiments and effect sizes.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What 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.