Article type
Year
Abstract
Objectives: to evaluate retrospectively the reporting quality of animal experiments published in Chinese journals adhering to the Animals in Research: Reporting In Vivo Experiments (ARRIVE) guidelines.
Methods: we searched databases including CNKI, WanFang, VIP and CBM to July, 2018. Four well-trained review authors screened and extracted articles independently. We used the ARRIVE guidelines to assess the quality of animal experiment reports. We analyzed the compliance rate of every item comparatively according to different published time.
Results: we finally included 4342 studies, of which 73.03% had been cited five times or more, only 29.04% (1261/4342) were published in journals of Chinese Science Citation Database. The assessment results showed that the compliance rate of more than half of sub-items (51.28%，20/39) was less than 50% and 65.00% (13/20) of sub-items was less than 10%.
Conclusions: the reporting quality of animal experiments in Chinese journals is generally lower than moderate level. Along with the publication of the ARRIVE guidelines in 2010, the compliance rate of most items in the ARRIVE guidelines has been improved to some extent. However, some specific items of methods, results and discussion were not still reported sufficiently and integrally. Therefore, it is necessary to popularize the ARRIVE guidelines, advocate researchers to adhere to the ARRIVE guidelines in the future and especially to promote the use of the ARRIVE guidelines in specialized journals, so as to promote the design, implementation and reporting of animal experiments, and ultimately improve their quality.
Patient or healthcare consumer involvement: to promote the design, implementation and reporting of animal experiments, ultimately improve the quality of experiments, provide reliable evidence for clinical research, and better serve patients and society.
Methods: we searched databases including CNKI, WanFang, VIP and CBM to July, 2018. Four well-trained review authors screened and extracted articles independently. We used the ARRIVE guidelines to assess the quality of animal experiment reports. We analyzed the compliance rate of every item comparatively according to different published time.
Results: we finally included 4342 studies, of which 73.03% had been cited five times or more, only 29.04% (1261/4342) were published in journals of Chinese Science Citation Database. The assessment results showed that the compliance rate of more than half of sub-items (51.28%，20/39) was less than 50% and 65.00% (13/20) of sub-items was less than 10%.
Conclusions: the reporting quality of animal experiments in Chinese journals is generally lower than moderate level. Along with the publication of the ARRIVE guidelines in 2010, the compliance rate of most items in the ARRIVE guidelines has been improved to some extent. However, some specific items of methods, results and discussion were not still reported sufficiently and integrally. Therefore, it is necessary to popularize the ARRIVE guidelines, advocate researchers to adhere to the ARRIVE guidelines in the future and especially to promote the use of the ARRIVE guidelines in specialized journals, so as to promote the design, implementation and reporting of animal experiments, and ultimately improve their quality.
Patient or healthcare consumer involvement: to promote the design, implementation and reporting of animal experiments, ultimately improve the quality of experiments, provide reliable evidence for clinical research, and better serve patients and society.
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