Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41331987›Full record

ArticleLaboratory animals2026

One size does not fit all: Guidelines for designing a score sheet for animal experiments - eight essential steps.

Michaela Thallmair, María J Duque-Correa, Maike Heimann, Philippe Bugnon

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Laboratory animals, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Michaela ThallmairOffice for Animal Welfare and 3R, University of Zurich, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0002-9211-5643
María J Duque-CorreaInstitute of Laboratory Animal Science, University of Zurich, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0001-8431-2228
Maike HeimannInstitute of Laboratory Animal Science, University of Zurich, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0002-5052-8757
Philippe BugnonInstitute of Laboratory Animal Science, University of Zurich, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0003-0680-2808

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The EU Directive 2010/63 on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes, as well as the Swiss Animal Welfare Legislation, demand monitoring and documentation of specific aspects of an animal experiment, including welfare-related issues and the (retrospective) assessment of the severity of the procedures that the animals underwent. A score sheet is an efficient tool for the evaluation of the burden of an animal during an experiment and, if properly designed and used, helps adhere to the 3Rs principle. It must be adapted to the specifics of each experiment and explicitly conceived for it. Several score sheet examples have been published; however, some contain fundamental flaws or are designed for specific settings only, requiring modifications to fit other experimental designs. This paper suggests an eight-step procedure to design a score sheet that can be adapted to any animal species and experimental conditions.

Indexed as

Animal ExperimentationAnimals, LaboratoryAnimal WelfareGuidelines as TopicResearch DesignAnimals3RsAnimal welfaremonitoringscore sheetseverity assessment

Identifiers

PMID41331987
PMCPMC13031354

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

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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.