Literature Searches for Animal Testing Alternatives

In general, when searching PubMed or one of the other MEDLINE interfaces it is a good idea to use the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) to find relevant articles. PubMed includes a searchable MeSH Database to help you identify the best terms for your search. There are a number of MeSH terms that apply to a literature search for alternative research methods in animal studies. Whenever one of these terms is used, be sure to include the [MESH] notation so that the system is triggered to look for the term as a subject heading and not a phrase.

Sample standard MeSH keywords (click on the keyword to see the MeSH definition, if available):

These terms can be combined to produce generalized searches for major topics in animal testing, including the health, welfare, and housing of animal subjects. Listed below are some sample searches for major issues of interest in your literature search.  Follow the MeSH Database link at the bottom of the page to run a search.

Blood Sampling: "blood specimen collection/methods"[MESH] AND "animals, laboratory "[MESH] "

Housing, Including Cages and Caging: ("animal husbandry"[MESH] OR "animal welfare"[MESH] OR "housing, animal"[MESH]) AND "animals, laboratory"[MESH] AND (caging OR cage* OR "housing, animal"[MESH])

Environmental Enrichment: "animals, laboratory "[MESH] AND enrichment[Text Word] AND "housing, animal"[MESH]

Laboratory Animal Welfare: "animal welfare"[MESH] AND "animals, laboratory "[MESH])

Transgenic Mice: "mice, transgenic"[MESH] AND ("animal welfare"[MESH] OR "Animal Testing Alternatives"[MESH])

Pain and/or Stress Prevention and Control: ("stress, physiological/prevention and control"[MESH] OR "pain/prevention and control"[MESH] OR "stress, physiological/veterinary"[MESH] OR pain/veterinary"[MESH]) AND "animal welfare"[MESH] AND ("animals, laboratory"[MESH] OR "research design"[MESH])

Handling: "animals, laboratory"[MESH] AND "animal husbandry"[MESH] AND ("handling (psychology)"[MESH] OR handling[Text Word])