Chapter 15 - Overcoming animal methods bias and its impacts on nonanimal research assessments

As awareness, acceptance, and use of nonanimal research methods grow, critical barriers to their full adoption remain. One of these barriers is animal methods bias—a preference for animal-based methods or lack of expertise to adequately evaluate nonanimal methods, resulting in unfair assessments of nonanimal research. In this chapter, we explore the evidence for animal methods bias in research assessment and the historical and systemic factors contributing to it, including the structural incentives that drive the research ecosystem. Mitigation recommendations for researchers, funders, and publishers are provided, adapted from work by the Coalition to Illuminate and Address Animal Methods Bias, and research gaps in understanding and correcting this bias are identified. Additional research and advocacy on animal methods bias are needed to understand its full impact on the uptake and acceptance of nonanimal methods and the persistence of animal use in biomedical research.