IACUC literature searching information
Find information to help search for alternatives (aka the "3Rs" - on right of this page) mandated by the Animal Welfare Act and required for IACUC (section 9 for research, section 7 for instruction) protocols.
The librarians listed on the right of this page offer periodic workshops on how to effectively search resources (check the FDI website and look for emails from the IACUC), but you can also use this worksheet as a guide through the literature search process, and the National Agricultural Library's Animal Use Alternatives Thesaurus to generate additional search terms.
Key resources
- IACUC at Virginia Tech
- Alternatives/3Rs (Word Doc)
- AWIC Animal Welfare Information Center
- ICCVAM
- EVCAM (European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Method)
- ECVAM Database Service on Alternative Methods to Animal Experiments (must create an account, free)
- IACUC.org (Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee, national organization)
- OLAW Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare
Databases
Several key databases to use in your searches are listed below. This is not an all-inclusive list, feel free to set up a consultation with one of the librarians on this page to assist with your literature review.
Entrez databases from NLM
Entrez from the NLM
Search across multiple Entrez-hosted databases from the National Library of Medicine. Entrez is NCBI’s primary text search and retrieval system that integrates the PubMed database of biomedical literature with 39 other literature and molecular databases including DNA and protein sequence, structure, gene, genome, genetic variation and gene expression.
CAB Abstracts from CABDirect
CAB Abstracts from CABDirect
CAB Abstracts indexes citations and abstracts from journals, books, reports, handbooks, conference proceedings, field notes, and theses in agriculture, life sciences, natural resources, veterinary sciences, applied economics, nutrition, tourism, and the environment. Includes the CAB Abstracts Archive. Some full text available as PDFs. 1910s-present.
PubMed/MEDLINE from the NLM
PubMed/MEDLINE from the NLM
PubMed indexes citations, abstracts, and some full text for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books in the life sciences, including the fields of medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, and preclinical sciences. Advanced search limits include types of articles (such as clinical trial, case reports, or review), human or animal studies, and age of subjects. Full text provided as HTML and PDF. 1947-present.Science Citation Index from ISI Web of Science
Science Citation Index from ISI Web of Knowledge
Science Citation Index, a subset of Web of Science, indexes citations, abstracts, and some full text from journal articles and conference proceedings in all science disciplines. You can search cited references. 1975-present (older data available in print).
Agriculture, Life, and Natural Resource databases from ProQuest
Agriculture, Life Science, and Natural Resource databases from ProQuest
This database indexes citations and abstracts for journal articles, books, conference papers, reference works, and dissertations (in full text PDFs) across multiple agricultural, biological, and natural resource databases on the ProQuest platform. You can limit to peer-reviewed sources. Use the Databases link at the top of the screen to change which databases are searched.
AGRICOLA from ProQuest
AGRICOLA from ProQuest
AGRICOLA indexes citations for journal articles, books, proceedings, theses, patents, translations, audiovisual materials, computer software, and technical reports pertaining to all aspects of agriculture, life sciences, nutrition, and environmental science. This database provides selective worldwide coverage of primary information sources in agriculture and related fields. You can limit to peer-reviewed sources. 1970-present.
Biological Abstracts from ISI Web of Knowledge
Biological Abstracts from ISI Web of Knowledge
Biological Abstracts indexes citations and abstracts from life science journals and meeting reports. 1926-present.
The 3 "Rs" for Alternatives
REDUCE: minimize how many animals are used.
REFINE: use techniques/procedures that minimize distress and pain to animals.
REPLACE: substitute animal models with non-animal techniques or lower organisms.
Librarians available for consultations:
- Kyrille K Goldbeck DeBose
- College Librarian for Natural Resources and Environment
- (540) 231-0495
- (540) 231-0419 (Cheatham Hall office)
- kdebose@vt.edu
-
315B Cheatham Hall
4005 Newman Library
Blacksburg, VA 24061
- Margaret Merrill
- College Librarian for Agriculture & Life Sciences
- (540) 231-9670
- (540) 231-2322 (Saunders office)
-
3340A Torgersen
306E Saunders
Blacksburg, VA 24061
- Rebecca Miller
- College Librarian for Sciences, Life Sciences, and Engineering
- (540) 231-9669
- millerrk@vt.edu
-
5003 Newman Library
Blacksburg, VA 24061
- Allison J Scripa
- College Librarian for Sciences
- (540) 231-7980
- (540) 231-9249 (Derring Hall office)
- ajscripa@vt.edu
-
4010 Newman
3066A Derring Hall
Blacksburg, VA 24061
