For scientists planning animal experiments

Animals living in harmony with their surroundings will have normal body parameters, which mean that they deliver valid research data. Treatment effects are then easier to detect, and fewer animals are needed to demonstrate significant effects with the same power. Good animal welfare is therefore also good science.

This website, currently with approx. 10,000 pages, provides both technical information on how to plan, conduct and report animal experiments, and also advice on how to increase animal welfare. We suggest you get a quick overview of the website by clicking on each of the items in the main menu (the white text on a blue background at the top of this page), to see the submenus. The search engine (at the top right of each page) and its filters should also be useful.

We also emphasise the value of close collaboration with animal technicians and the animal facility from day one, to learn from their experience, motivate them for the project and avoid spending time planning procedures which are likely to be problematic. This will improve both scientific validity and animal welfare, since the two are related. A glance at this set of resources for animal technicians gives an insight into how the refinement of basic techniques can improve animal research and testing.

Animal research is currently being criticised both by opponents and scientists alike for poor reproducibility and poor translatability. Norecopa believes that these concerns must be tackled by better planning, from day one, in collaboration with animal facility or animal care staff. Norecopa, in collaboration with British scientists, has produced the PREPARE guidelines for planning animal studies to help this process.

Norecopa can, within the limits of its capacity, give advice to scientists who fail to find the information they are looking for on this website. Please contact Norecopa by email.