How animal ethics committees make decisions - a scoping review of empirical studies.

<h4>Objectives</h4>The aim of the scoping review is to explore the decision-making process for the evaluation of animal research proposals within Animal Ethics Committees (AEC) and Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUC), and to critically summarize the available empirical l...

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Main Authors: Aoife Milford, Eva De Clercq, Edwin Louis-Maerten, Lester D Geneviève, Bernice S Elger
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2025-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0318570
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author Aoife Milford
Eva De Clercq
Edwin Louis-Maerten
Lester D Geneviève
Bernice S Elger
author_facet Aoife Milford
Eva De Clercq
Edwin Louis-Maerten
Lester D Geneviève
Bernice S Elger
author_sort Aoife Milford
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Objectives</h4>The aim of the scoping review is to explore the decision-making process for the evaluation of animal research proposals within Animal Ethics Committees (AEC) and Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUC), and to critically summarize the available empirical literature on the different factors influencing, or likely to influence, decision-making by AECs when evaluating animal research proposals.<h4>Methods</h4>A systematic search of empirical literature published between 01.12.2012 and 03.06.2024 in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, was performed.<h4>Results</h4>Twelve papers were included in the final results, four of which were quantitative, five qualitative, and three were mixed methods. Qualitative content analysis revealed deficits in the assessment of the 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction or Refinement) or the weighing of harms and benefits. Factors related to the review process, applicants, and committees were found to influence this process.<h4>Conclusion</h4>The findings prompt pragmatic strategies to improve the decision making process of Animal ethics committees.<h4>Registration</h4>The protocol for this review was registered with Open Science Framework (OSF) with the following DOI: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/GZJMB.
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spelling doaj-art-1c468ddfbd7f4db68caf163fd0329d512025-08-20T02:17:25ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032025-01-01203e031857010.1371/journal.pone.0318570How animal ethics committees make decisions - a scoping review of empirical studies.Aoife MilfordEva De ClercqEdwin Louis-MaertenLester D GenevièveBernice S Elger<h4>Objectives</h4>The aim of the scoping review is to explore the decision-making process for the evaluation of animal research proposals within Animal Ethics Committees (AEC) and Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUC), and to critically summarize the available empirical literature on the different factors influencing, or likely to influence, decision-making by AECs when evaluating animal research proposals.<h4>Methods</h4>A systematic search of empirical literature published between 01.12.2012 and 03.06.2024 in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, was performed.<h4>Results</h4>Twelve papers were included in the final results, four of which were quantitative, five qualitative, and three were mixed methods. Qualitative content analysis revealed deficits in the assessment of the 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction or Refinement) or the weighing of harms and benefits. Factors related to the review process, applicants, and committees were found to influence this process.<h4>Conclusion</h4>The findings prompt pragmatic strategies to improve the decision making process of Animal ethics committees.<h4>Registration</h4>The protocol for this review was registered with Open Science Framework (OSF) with the following DOI: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/GZJMB.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0318570
spellingShingle Aoife Milford
Eva De Clercq
Edwin Louis-Maerten
Lester D Geneviève
Bernice S Elger
How animal ethics committees make decisions - a scoping review of empirical studies.
PLoS ONE
title How animal ethics committees make decisions - a scoping review of empirical studies.
title_full How animal ethics committees make decisions - a scoping review of empirical studies.
title_fullStr How animal ethics committees make decisions - a scoping review of empirical studies.
title_full_unstemmed How animal ethics committees make decisions - a scoping review of empirical studies.
title_short How animal ethics committees make decisions - a scoping review of empirical studies.
title_sort how animal ethics committees make decisions a scoping review of empirical studies
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0318570
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