Response to ”The publication in Homeopathy of studies involving animal experimentation“. Reply to Dr Delny Britton

Sir,

We thank Dr Britton for her positive and proactive letter. From her comments, it appears that she has concerns about the extent to which the new policy on publication of studies that involve animal experimentation complies with EU Directive 2010/63. She should be assured that the journal's intention is to comply fully with that Directive. What she has termed ‘the alternatives test’ is, in fact, no more nor less than full and appropriate application of the 3Rs. As she has pointed out, this includes consideration of research strategy as well as individual research techniques.

We are not in a position to affect the authorisation of animal experiments, but we are able to make decisions about what is ethically acceptable for publication in Homeopathy. Hence, in the revised Guide for Authors we specify: ‘Papers will only be accepted for publication if authors can confirm&that the potential for application of the 3Rs was rigorously analysed prior to starting, and every opportunity was taken during the course of the study to implement each of them.’

In response to Dr Britton's concern, and in the interests of complete clarity, we have added a further statement to the above point in the Guide for Authors: ‘This includes analysis of alternative research strategies that could potentially be used to address the research question and that would not involve the use of animals.’ We hope that this addition provides reassurance of the journal's commitment to full compliance with Directive 2010/63.