Standard of reporting animal-based experimental research in Indian Journal of Pharmacology

The objective of present study was to survey and determine the reporting standards of animal studies published during three years from 2012 to 2014 in the Indian Journal of Pharmacology (IJP).

All issues of IJP published in the year 2012, 2013 and 2014 were reviewed to identify animal studies. Each animal study was searched for 15 parameters specifically designed to review standards of animal experimentation and research methodology.

All published studies had clearly defined aims and objectives while a statement on ethical clearance about the study protocol was provided in 97% of papers. Information about animal strain and sex was given in 91.8% and 90% of papers respectively. Age of experimental animals was mentioned by 44.4% papers while source of animals was given in 50.8% papers. Randomization was reported by 37.4% while 9.9% studies reported blinding. Only 3.5% studies mentioned any limitations of their work.

Present study demonstrates relatively good reporting standards in animal studies published in IJP. The items which need to be improved are randomization, blinding, sample size calculation, stating the limitations of study, sources of support and conflict of interest. The knowledge shared in the present paper could be used for better reporting of animal based experiments.