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							<p>Responsibility for the care and use of animals in research is generally granted to research institutions that meet specific standards or receive accreditation. They are expected to have special animal protection programmes that assume responsibility for both the care of animals and the approval of research projects. Most institutional programmes also offer additional training on the care and handling of animals.</p>
							<p>Whatever the situation at your university, your institution's Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Board (AWERB), Named Veterinary Surgeon (NVS), Named Animal Care and Welfare Officer (NACWO) and NTCO will be essential points of contact &ndash; from the planning stage of a project through to its completion.</p>
							
							<h3>Institutional programmes</h3>
							
							<p>Institutional programmes governing the care and use of animals generally include the following components:</p>
							
							<instructional-text class="hide-in-mobile"><p>Click through each tab to learn about the various components of a typical institution's animal protection programme.</p></instructional-text>
							<accessible-text class="show-in-mobile"><p>Continue on to learn about the various components of a typical institution's animal protection programme.</p></accessible-text>

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									<tab-heading>Establishment Licence Holder</tab-heading>
									<tab-content>The person authorised to oversee and report on all animal research activities. The licence holder can delegate authority, but bears ultimate responsibility for all animal research activities.</tab-content>
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									<tab-heading>Named Animal Care and Welfare Officer (NACWO)</tab-heading>
									<tab-content>The Named Animal Care and Welfare Officer (NACWO) is responsible for ensuring that all animals that are in the institution are properly cared for (i.e. by overseeing day-to-day husbandry and care). The NACWO will also be involved with the review of project proposals and protocols, particularly in relation to the impact of the protocols on the animals.</tab-content>
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									<tab-heading>Named Training Competency Officer</tab-heading>
									<tab-content>The Named Training and Competency Officer (NTCO) is responsible for ensuring that all staff that work with animals (research staff and care staff) are fully competent in the protocols and procedures that they will undertake. They are responsible for ensuring that all relevant training is up to date.</tab-content>
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									<tab-heading>Institutional Policy</tab-heading>
									<tab-content>A detailed plan outlining how the institution provides care for the animals used in research and ensures they are used in a responsible way.</tab-content>
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									<tab-heading>Biological Services Unit (BSUs)</tab-heading>
									<tab-content>The unit that bears primary responsibility for providing facilities and ensuring that animals are properly housed and treated (it may be called something different at your institution). BSUs must include staff with the skills necessary to care for the specific animals used in research on campus.</tab-content>
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									<tab-heading>Home Office Inspector</tab-heading>
									<tab-content>All establishments that have a licence to carry out animal research will be inspected regularly by one of the inspectors working for the Animals in Science Regulation Unit (ASRU). These inspectors' primary responsibility is to advise on best practice for carrying out regulated procedures, but also to ensure compliance with the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act, 1986 (ASPA).</tab-content>
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									<tab-heading>Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Board</tab-heading>
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										<p>The Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Board (AWERB) is responsible for approving research projects and overseeing all aspects of an institution's animal research programme. Its members must include:</p>
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											<li>A doctor of veterinary medicine</li>
											<li>A researcher who uses animals in their studies</li>
											<li>Someone unaffiliated with the institution.</li>
										</ul>
										<p>Optional members often include someone who does not use animals in research, or a 'lay' member (e.g. someone who is trained in applied ethics or law).</p>
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									<tab-heading>Named Veterinary Surgeon</tab-heading>
									<tab-content>The Named Veterinary Surgeon (NVS) oversees, monitors and provides advice on the health and welfare of all animals (protected or otherwise) that are kept at the institution.</tab-content>
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							<p>If you work at an institution that has a recognised and authorised animal care programme, getting approval for your research through that unit usually means you have the permission you need to purchase and house animals, conduct your research, and publish the findings. Working with animal care experts helps protect you from mistakes and ensures that you are meeting your responsibilities as someone who uses animals in research.</p>
							
							<h3>Institutional approval</h3>
							
							<p>Before animal research can be approved, your AWERB needs to know what you plan to do, the importance of your work and why you believe it is ethically justifiable. Most AWERBs now require you to justify all animal research, even sub-threshold work with vertebrates and work that uses non-protected species (invertebrates). It is considered unethical, and also a waste of funds, to use animals for research that is unlikely to advance knowledge or provide useful information. When you are describing your project to the board, you should make sure your description is detailed enough to explain the science behind it. You should also ensure that it is thoughtful and written in terms that the broad membership base of the AWERB can understand.</p>
							<p>Typically, you will be asked to provide the following items in a review committee application.</p>
							
							<instructional-text class="hide-in-mobile"><p>Click on the pinpoints for a more detailed description of each.</p></instructional-text>
							<accessible-text class="show-in-mobile"><p>Continue on for a more detailed description of the components of a review committee application.</p></accessible-text>

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								<labelled-graphic-hotspot location="132,82" placement="top" variant="block" label="Title and study team" heading="Title and study team" content="Most research projects are reviewed for scientific merit before they go to a review committee for ethics review. However, review committees cannot ignore scientific quality and also need to know a great deal about your proposal in order to make judgements about ethics. Researchers generally provide this information through a review committee application form."></labelled-graphic-hotspot>
								<labelled-graphic-hotspot location="132,121" placement="top" variant="block" label="Funding and location" heading="Funding and location" content="As noted above, different agencies have different requirements. Therefore, the review committee needs to know who is funding your research. It also needs to know where the research will be conducted. Research in other countries could be subject to different regulations."></labelled-graphic-hotspot>
								<labelled-graphic-hotspot location="132,159" placement="top" variant="block" label="Overview and justification" heading="Overview and justification" content="Most research goes through scientific or scholarly peer review before it is brought to a review committee. Therefore, you do not need to provide a detailed description of the entire project. However, you do need to provide enough detail to allow the review committee to understand how the animals will be cared for and treated throughout the course of the research, as well as why the research is important. Most applications provide a place to paste, link to or attach the project protocol. The critical consideration will be whether the rationale for the study and the potential outcome outweighs the potential harm to the animals. This is particularly important for protocols that exceed the 'mild' severity category."></labelled-graphic-hotspot>
								<labelled-graphic-hotspot location="138,229" placement="top" variant="block" label="Species" heading="Species" content="You will be expected to provide detailed information on the animals you plan to use, including:<ul><li>Species (since the requirements for care vary by species)</li><li>Source (particularly whether they are purpose bred)</li><li>Characteristics (such as age and gender)</li><li>Scientific justification for the species requested (including why a less sentient species is not appropriate).</li></ul>"></labelled-graphic-hotspot>
								<labelled-graphic-hotspot location="220,229" placement="top" variant="block" label="Number" heading="Number" content="You will need to specify the precise number of animals you plan to use, as well as providing a justification for this figure."></labelled-graphic-hotspot>
								<labelled-graphic-hotspot class="pinpoint-f" location="308,201" placement="top" variant="block" label="Likely severity of procedure (mild, moderate, severe)" heading="Likely severity of procedure (mild, moderate, severe)" content="<p>You will be expected to use national guidance on recognising and categorising the severity level of your protocol. According to the EU directive 2014/11/EU, 'mild severity' will include protocols in which the animals are likely to experience a short term, mild level of pain, but it will not have a major impact on their quality of life.</p><p>'Moderate severity' will include protocols during or after which the animals will experience relatively short-term suffering or pain, and after which the animal may remain moderately impaired or its condition will be moderately affected.</p><p>'Severe severity' will include any protocol in which the animal will experience severe suffering, including pain, distress or permanent impairment. Severity assessment relates to both the anticipated severity (i.e. what you expect to happen, following your protocol), and the actual severity (i.e. what was actually experienced by animals on your protocol).</p>"></labelled-graphic-hotspot>
								<labelled-graphic-hotspot class="pinpoint-g" location="129,277" placement="top" variant="block" label="Procedures (including humane 'endpoints')" heading="Procedures (including humane 'endpoints')" content="You will need to specify how you plan to care for the animals you will be using throughout the research, as well as any specific procedures or treatments they will undergo as part of the research. If the endpoint of the protocol is that animals will be killed (either for harvesting of tissue, or owing to the completion of the protocol), you need to describe how this will be done. In the UK, this will typically be via a 'Schedule 1' method, which is a list of approved humane killing methods under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. Methods of killing animals that are not approved under Schedule 1 must be agreed within the specific project licence associated with the protocol."></labelled-graphic-hotspot>
								<labelled-graphic-hotspot location="170,348" placement="top" variant="block" label="Housing" heading="Housing" content="There are detailed rules for housing animals before, during and after research. You should make sure to consult the rules that are relevant to your situation and then follow them in the description and conduct of your research."></labelled-graphic-hotspot>
								<labelled-graphic-hotspot location="297,348" placement="top" variant="block" label="Research facilities" heading="Research facilities" content="There are detailed rules for how animals should be treated during procedures and the facilities that must be used. For example, most surgery requires separate operative and post-operative areas. Make sure you understand the rules, detail how you will follow them in your application, and then follow the rules in practice."></labelled-graphic-hotspot>
								<labelled-graphic-hotspot location="297,285" placement="top" variant="block" label="Hazardous agents" heading="Hazardous agents" content="Applications usually require descriptions of all the hazardous materials used as part of research (e.g. toxins, carcinogenic agents, biohazards, drugs, and toxic chemicals), along with related safety measures and staff training."></labelled-graphic-hotspot>
								<labelled-graphic-hotspot location="132,400" placement="top" variant="block" label="Signature" heading="Signature" content="By putting your signature on any research document, you are signifying that you have read and are prepared to take full responsibility for everything in the document. Do not sign a document you have not read and make it clear to the others in your team that they should not sign documents on your behalf unless they have your permission."></labelled-graphic-hotspot>
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								<h4>Title and study team</h4>
								<p>Most research projects are reviewed for scientific merit before they go to a review committee for ethics review. However, review committees cannot ignore scientific quality and also need to know a great deal about your proposal in order to make judgements about ethics. Researchers generally provide this information through a review committee application form.</p>
								<hr>
								<h4>Funding and location</h4>
								<p>As noted, different agencies have different requirements. Therefore, the review committee needs to know who is funding your research. It also needs to know where the research will be conducted. Research in other countries could be subject to different regulations.</p>
								<hr>
								<h4>Overview and justification</h4>
								<p>Most research goes through scientific or scholarly peer review before it is brought to a review committee. Therefore, you do not need to provide a detailed description of the entire project. However, you do need to provide enough detail to allow the review committee to understand how the animals will be cared for and treated throughout the course of the research, as well as why the research is important. Most applications provide a place to paste, link to or attach the project protocol. The critical consideration will be whether the rationale for the study and the potential outcome outweighs the potential harm to the animals. This is particularly important for protocols that exceed the 'mild' severity category.</p>
								<hr>
								<h4>Species</h4>
								<p>You will be expected to provide detailed information on the animals you plan to use, including:</p>
								<ul>
									<li>Species (since the requirements for care vary by species)</li>
									<li>Source (particularly whether they are purpose bred)</li>
									<li>Characteristics (such as age and gender)</li>
									<li>Scientific justification for the species requested (including why a less sentient species is not appropriate).</li>
								</ul>
								<hr>
								<h4>Number</h4>
								<p>You will need to specify the precise number of animals you plan to use, as well as providing a justification for this figure.</p>
								<hr>
								<h4>Likely severity of procedure (mild, moderate, severe)</h4>
								<p>You will be expected to use national guidance on recognising and categorising the severity level of your protocol. According to the EU directive 2014/11/EU, 'mild severity' will include protocols in which the animals are likely to experience a short term, mild level of pain, but it will not have a major impact on their quality of life.</p>
								<p>'Moderate severity' will include protocols during or after which the animals will experience relatively short-term suffering or pain, and after which the animal may remain moderately impaired or its condition will be moderately affected.</p>
								<p>'Severe severity' will include any protocol in which the animal will experience severe suffering, including pain, distress or permanent impairment. Severity assessment relates to both the anticipated severity (i.e. what you expect to happen, following your protocol), and the actual severity (i.e. what was actually experienced by animals on your protocol).</p>
								<hr>
								<h4>Procedures (including humane 'endpoints')</h4>
								<p>You will need to specify how you plan to care for the animals you will be using throughout the research, as well as any specific procedures or treatments they will undergo as part of the research. If the endpoint of the protocol is that animals will be killed (either for harvesting of tissue, or owing to the completion of the protocol), you need to describe how this will be done. In the UK, this will typically be via a 'Schedule 1' method, which is a list of approved humane killing methods under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. Methods of killing animals that are not approved under Schedule 1 must be agreed within the specific project licence associated with the protocol.</p>
								<hr>
								<h4>Housing</h4>
								<p>There are detailed rules for housing animals before, during and after research. You should make sure to consult the rules that are relevant to your situation and then follow them in the description and conduct of your research.</p>
								<hr>
								<h4>Research facilities</h4>
								<p>There are detailed rules for how animals should be treated during procedures and the facilities that must be used. For example, most surgery requires separate operative and post-operative areas. Make sure you understand the rules, detail how you will follow them in your application, and then follow the rules in practice.</p>
								<hr>
								<h4>Hazardous agents</h4>
								<p>Applications usually require descriptions of all the hazardous materials used as part of research (e.g. toxins, carcinogenic agents, biohazards, drugs, and toxic chemicals), along with related safety measures and staff training.</p>
								<hr>
								<h4>Signature</h4>
								<p>By putting your signature on any research document, you are signifying that you have read and are prepared to take full responsibility for everything in the document. Do not sign a document you have not read and make it clear to the others in your team that they should not sign documents on your behalf unless they have your permission.</p>
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							<p>Although application forms and procedures vary, review committees generally collect the same information to make judgements about the scientific merit of your work and the steps you are taking to ensure the proper care and treatment of the animals you are using or studying. You should check with your institution to ensure you are fully aware of its policies and requirements.</p>
							
							<h3>Summary</h3>
							
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							<p>Your institutional programme and review committee provide protection for the animals you are studying, as well as you as a researcher. Institutional programmes ensure responsible care and use, and review committees make the ethical judgements that researchers should not make on their own.</p>
							<p>However your institutional programme is organised, it is your best source of guidance when you are studying or using animals in your research.</p>
							
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									<p>Make sure to check your institution's policies to familiarise yourself with its rules and guidelines.</p>
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