Report and recommendations of the international workshop "Retrieval approaches for information on alternative methods to animal experiments".

In the member states of the EU and in the USA, scientists are obliged by animal welfare legislation not to conduct an animal experiment if another scientifically satisfactory method is reasonably and practicably available. To meet the regulatory obligation to use alternatives to animal experiments, scientists should consult literature and other relevant sources on alternatives prior to any experimental study on laboratory animals. It is the responsibility of the individual scientist to select the most appropriate database to obtain information on alternatives, which have been defined as methods that refine, reduce or replace animal experiments (the 3 Rs concept of Russell and Burch (1959)).