Reviewed: July 2024

The AMRC’s principles of expert review state that all AMRC members must consider the 3Rs in their expert review process. This can be broken down into the application form and guidance for applicants and the assessment process and guidance for reviewers.  In addition, the 3Rs can be promoted through grant terms and conditions.

Application forms

Include questions on the use of animals in your grant application forms. These questions will need to be reviewed in light of the entire research proposal, to assess the relevance and suitability of the animal model for the scientific questions being asked. For grants which could involve the use of animals, ask…

• whether the proposal will involve animals or their tissue. 

• which species will be used including those not protected under UK law, such as flies.

• whether genetically modified animals will be used.

• whether the proposals will include procedures to be carried out on animals in the UK under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.

  • • If they do, ask for evidence that licenses and approvals have been given by the Home Office and Ethical Review Body (AWERB). Some funders provide ‘funding in principle’ and ask for copies of licences and approvals once they have been granted. 

• whether the proposals will involve the use of animals outside the UK or animal tissue sourced from outside the UK. 

  • • You need to ensure that you have sufficient assurance that the research will be conducted according to the spirit of UK legislation and to required UK welfare standards (see page 14 of the Responsibility document). Areas of concern could include supplier source, transportation, housing, and enrichment.  AMRC members may request that the NC3Rs review applications involving overseas animal research if they have concerns. The NC3Rs peer review and advice service also has checklists for overseas applications on the use of animals and other useful resources. These checklists can also be used for supplementary questions on each species on UK based projects or can be a useful resource to support reviewers in what to consider in applications.

• questions which assess the implementation of the 3Rs.

  • • Consider asking researchers to utilise the NC3Rs experimental design assistant and requesting that they submit the report as part of their application. The report highlights missing information from and potential issues with design, which is particularly helpful for panels with limited statistical expertise.

Take a look at our suggested questions based on those used by the UKRI, NC3Rs and the Wellcome Trust.

Processing and reviewing of applications

Charities must ensure reviewers are aware of the 3Rs and their role in funding decisions, have suitable resources to consider them, and sufficient expertise to assess their implementation.

• All reviewers, and charity staff administering the grants, should be provided with guidance and training on the questions included on the 3Rs and why they are important. Take a look at the Research Animal Training resources page.

• Reviewers and charity staff administering grants should read and be familiar with the content of NC3Rs guidance on the responsible use of animals in bioscience research and assess applications in line with it.

• To ensure suitable expertise is used to assess applications involving animal research, particularly in reference to the 3Rs, consider if additional experts with in vivo and in vitro expertise may be needed as part of the review process. Ideally, this should be a combination of expertise in the animal model used and disease area.

Consider asking in-depth reviewers to answer specific questions on the 3Rs. For example, within their reviewer comments form and/or allocating a member or subset of the research review committee to raise and discuss these comments in the meeting.  Questions could include:

• Can the research question be addressed without the use of animals?

• Are the experimental design and the numbers of animals proposed appropriate and justified; are sample size calculations correct?

• Is the expected severity of the procedures accurate and justified?

• Would any of the studies be considered unacceptable in your laboratory; if so, why?

• Could the research approach be improved to reduce the number of animals or replace some of the animals used? Could a ‘lower species’/species with a less developed consciousness be used?

• Could the husbandry and procedures used be refined to reduce animal pain, suffering or distress? (For 3Rs opportunities and advice, see the NC3Rs website).

  • • Could more modern, less-invasive methods be used in place of traditional, invasive procedures on animals?

    • What method of restraint will be used? Is this appropriate?

    • Are appropriate humane endpoints being used to limit unnecessary suffering?

    • Could animals be sourced locally to avoid long, multi-staged transport?

    • Are requests for additional animals as a contingency adequately justified?

    • Do the staff members and researchers involved in the study have sufficient experience and training in animal use, care, and welfare?

• Will the study lead to replacement, refinement, and reduction in the use of animals in the future? If so, how will the findings be disseminated?

• Will publications arising from the research adhere to the ARRIVE guidelines? (Note that this applies to the reporting of all in vivo research, not just the 3R’s implications).

Applications involving non-human primates, cats, dogs, or equines, must be referred to the NC3Rs ([email protected]) for additional expert 3Rs review. You can find the NC3Rs peer review and advice service including additional expert review support for applications using non-human primates, dogs, cats, and equines, guidance, and other useful resources here.  

The NC3Rs is also available for bespoke queries and concerns from charities and reviewers about grant applications you have received.

Promote the 3Rs in your terms and conditions

Charities must promote the 3Rs in their grant terms and conditions, to achieve this include the following:

• Require grant holders using animals to implement the principles in the cross-funder guidance Responsibility in the Use of Animals in Bioscience Research.

• Require grant holders using non-human primates to comply with the NC3Rs guidelines Primate Accommodation, Care and Use.

• Ask grant holders to make use of the PREPARE guidelines when planning experiments.

  • • PREPARE covers the three broad areas which determine the quality of animal study design: formulation of the study; dialogue between scientists and the animal facility; and methods.

• Ask grant holders to make use of the ARRIVE guidelines and the report Responsibility in the use of animals in bioscience research to communicate the results of research involving animals, maximise the quality and reliability of published research, and enable others to better scrutinise, evaluate and reproduce it.

Take a look at our suggested wording to promote the 3Rs in your terms and conditions.