The British Journal of Pharmacology (BJP) is committed to upholding the ARRIVE Guidelines
The ARRIVE guidelines (Animals in Research: Reporting In Vivo Experiments) have been implemented in BJP since 2010 with the aim of increasing transparency in reporting experiments involving animals.
Why are the ARRIVE Guidelines important?
These Guidelines give a structure for a more methodical approach in reporting animal research. Key issues to consider include:
- Clear reporting of process. Methods must be reported in sufficient detail to allow independent replication of experiments.
- Clear understanding of data required. The number of experiments undertaken must be optimised to obtain the necessary amount of high quality data needed to answer an important question.
- Animal welfare. The welfare of animal subjects is crucial, not just because of the ethical imperative but also to achieve consistency in experiments (healthy animals are more likely to be like other healthy animals)The ARRIVE guidelines were published in BJP and accompanied by a pharmacology-specific editorial to emphasise what is important for the types of papers BJP publish. All authors were required to indicate compliance with the guidelines and this was included in the peer review process. After assessing success of this system the journal editors have decided improvements can be made.
BJP has now devised a new aspect of the submission system for the journal that will rely on asking direct questions, tailored to what is necessary for pharmacological studies. The BJP will introduce an extra step in peer review to ensure aspects specific to animal studies. The full details of this system can be found in the editorial and in the instructions to authors.
Find out more about the use of animals in scientific research below: