Animal Ethics & Institutional Approval Policy

The Journal of Meat Science (JMS) requires that all research involving animals be conducted in accordance with internationally recognized ethical and animal-welfare standards. Authors must ensure that experimental procedures comply with institutional, national, and international regulations governing the care and use of animals in research.

1. Ethical Approval Requirement

All manuscripts reporting animal experiments must include:

Name of the approving ethics committee (e.g., IAEC/CPCSEA or equivalent)
Approval number
Approval date
Statement confirming compliance with national and international animal-welfare guidelines

Required statement format:

“All animal procedures were approved by the Institutional Animal Ethics Committee (Approval No: ___, Date: ___) and conducted in accordance with national and international guidelines for animal welfare.”

2. International Standards

Animal research submitted to JMS must comply with recognized standards, including:

CPCSEA Guidelines (India)
https://ccsea.gov.in/Auth/index.aspx
ARRIVE Guidelines (Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments)
https://arriveguidelines.org
OIE Animal Welfare Standards
https://www.woah.org
Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) standards, where applicable

Authors are encouraged to follow the ARRIVE Essential 10 reporting checklist when preparing manuscripts involving animal experimentation.

3. Animal Welfare Considerations

Authors must ensure:

Humane care, handling, and housing of animals
Minimization of pain, distress, and suffering
Use of anesthesia and analgesia where appropriate
Scientific and ethical justification for animal use
Use of approved euthanasia protocols

4. Non-Compliance

Manuscripts that do not meet animal-ethics requirements may be:

Rejected without peer review
Returned to authors for clarification or documentation
Retracted if ethical violations are identified after publication

Animal Ethics & Institutional Approval Policy