Refinement Database

Database on Refinement of Housing, Husbandry, Care, and Use of Animals in Research

This database, created in 2000, is updated every four months with newly published scientific articles, books, and other publications related to improving or safeguarding the welfare of animals used in research.

Tips for using the database:

  • This landing page displays all of the publications in the database.
  • Use the drop-down menus to filter these publications by Animal Type, Setting, and/or Topic.
  • Clicking on a parent category (e.g., Rodent) will include publications relating to all the items in that category (e.g., Chinchilla, Gerbil, Guinea Pig, etc.).
  • You may also add a keyword to further narrow your search.
  • Please note that at this time, only publications dated 2010 or later (with some exceptions) can be filtered by Animal Type and Topic, and only publications dated 2020 or later (with some exceptions) can be filtered by Setting. Most publications older than 2010 can only be searched by keyword. 
Smith, A. L., Mabus, S. L., Muir, C. et al. 2005. Effects of housing density and cage floor space on three strains of young adult inbred mice. Comparative Medicine 55(4), 368-376.

Some recommendations in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (the Guide) are based on best professional judgment. Our current efforts are directed toward replacement with data-driven standards. We demonstrated earlier that...

Hutchinson, E., Avery, A., Van de Woude, S. 2005. Environmental enrichment for laboratory rodents. ILAR Journal 46(2), 148-161.

In this article, laws and guidelines relating to rodent enrichment are reviewed, the natural behaviors of select rodent species are discussed, and an overview of widely used types of enrichment in laboratory rodent management is...

Fullwood, S., Hicks, T. A., Brown, J. C. et al. 1998. Floor space needs for laboratory mice: C57BL/6 males in solid-bottom cages with bedding. ILAR Journal 39(1), 29-36.

Different floor space allocations of cages that were barren except bedding were tested in groups of 3 male mice. Space reduction - from 129 to 32 square cm per mouse - had no impact on...

Wurbel, H., Stauffacher, M. 1994. Standard-Haltung fur Labormause - Probleme und Losungsasatze. Tierlaboratorium 17, 109-118.

The high prevalence of stereotypies in mice kept in standard animal facilities is underscored.

Love, J. A. 1988. Housing for rabbits. Humane Innovations and Alternatives in Animal Experimentation 2, 47-48.

In most laboratory situations, rabbits are kept isolated in cages. ... We have attempted to correct this deficiency by keeping rabbits in either large tubs which can accommodate six or more animals or in indoor/outdoor...

Mantel, N. 1980. Assessing laboratory evidence for neoplastic activity. Biometics 36, 381-399.

Mortality and tumor incidence in corcinogenesis experiments differ between mice caged in the top vs. bottom of the rack.