3R Guide provides an overview of guidelines, databases, journals, email lists, regulations and policies which may help researchers to implement the 3Rs of Russell & Burch when planning research that may involve animals. It was produced in collaboration with the Animal Welfare Information Center at the US Department of Agriculture in Beltsville, USA.

The aim of 3R Guide and the Norecopa website in general is to provide a 'one-stop shop' of 3R resources for researchers.

The database is integrated in this website and the search engine at the top of all the pages performs searches in it automatically. Tick the box next to 3R Guide in the search filters on the right of the screen when you have performed your search, if you wish to look specifically for hits in the database.
We also strongly recommend that you search the relevant sections of the PREPARE guidelines, because they include many additional resources and detailed guidance for planning studies.

Some shortcuts:

• Guidelines for animal research
• Resources sorted in alphabetical order
• The resources in 3R Guide sorted by date of entry (newest first)

All resources in 3R Guide are sorted by Type (e.g. database, guidelines), Category (e.g. anaesthesia, blood sampling) and 3R relevance (Replacement, Reduction or Refinement).

Please contact us if you find errors or know of resources which should be cited in the database.

The information in this database is an updated and expanded version of the collection of resources in a paper entitled The use of databases, information centres and guidelines when planning research that may involve animals (Smith AJ & Allen T, 2005, Animal Welfare, 14, 347-359). The paper is copyright UFAW but it is available (by permission from UFAW) here.

Norecopa maintains five other additional databases:

1. NORINA, covering audiovisual aids which may be used as alternatives or supplements to animals in education and training
2. TextBase covering literature within laboratory animal science and alternatives
3. An Inventory of 3Rs Knowledge Sources produced by the EU Commission
4. An Inventory of 3Rs Education and Training Courses and Resources produced by the EU Commission
5. Classic AVs (a subset of NORINA covering audiovisuals using older technology) 

We thank Laboratory Animals Ltd., the Scottish Accreditation Board and the Stiansen Foundation for financial support for the development of this database.