Animal Welfare Search for Alternatives Portal

The UT Southwestern Medical Center Library provides assistance to scientists performing searches for alternatives to the use of animals in research. All searches for alternatives should incorporate the concepts of refinement, replacement, and reduction (3R’s). These concepts seek to eliminate or reduce unnecessary pain and distress in animals, encourage the use of non-animal models, and reduce the total number of animals used in research.

Federal regulations require that investigators requesting to use animals in research must demonstrate to the IACUC that they have searched for alternatives using the 3R's framework to reduce the number of animals, refine the species model, and/or replace the animals with non-animal models whenever possible.

Databases and Resources

Animal Alternatives Databases and Resources Chart

Sample Searches

UC Davis Search Templates and Databases

Tutorials

ALTWEB: Alternatives to Animal Testing Web Site

UNC Searching for Alternatives