The ARRIVE guidelines 2.0: Updated guidelines for reporting animal research

Abstract

Abstract Reproducible science requires transparent reporting. The ARRIVE guidelines (Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments) were originally developed in 2010 to improve the reporting of animal research. They consist of a checklist of information to include in publications describing in vivo experiments to enable others to scrutinise the work adequately, evaluate its methodological rigour, and reproduce the methods and results. Despite considerable levels of endorsement by funders and journals over the years, adherence to the guidelines has been inconsistent, and the anticipated improvements in the quality of reporting in animal research publications have not been achieved. Here, we introduce ARRIVE 2.0. The guidelines have been updated and information reorganised to facilitate their use in practice. We used a Delphi exercise to prioritise and divide the items of the guidelines into 2 sets, the “ARRIVE Essential 10,” which constitutes the minimum requirement, and the “Recommended Set,” which describes the research context. This division facilitates improved reporting of animal research by supporting a stepwise approach to implementation. This helps journal editors and reviewers verify that the most important items are being reported in manuscripts. We have also developed the accompanying Explanation and Elaboration document, which serves (1) to explain the rationale behind each item in the guidelines, (2) to clarify key concepts, and (3) to provide illustrative examples. We aim, through these changes, to help ensure that researchers, reviewers, and journal editors are better equipped to improve the rigour and transparency of the scientific process and thus reproducibility.

Keywords

Affiliated Institutions

• Medical Research Council GB
• AstraZeneca (United Kingdom) GB
• National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke US
• Hindawi (United Kingdom) GB
• University of Bristol GB
• University of Edinburgh GB
• The Nature Conservancy US
• University of Southampton GB
• Cambridge Life Sciences (United Kingdom) GB
• ICF International (United States) US
• Taylor and Francis (United Kingdom)
• William Harvey Research Institute GB
• Berlin Institute of Health at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin DE
• Queen Mary University of London GB
• University of Florida US
• University of Bern CH
• Imperial College London GB
• Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine GB
• The University of Sydney AU
• Janssen (Belgium) BE
• National Centre for the Replacement Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research GB
• Cardiff University GB
• Stroke Association GB
• Prioris.ai (Canada) CA
• University of Tasmania AU

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