The ARRIVE reporting checklist

Note

If you have not used a reporting guideline before, read about how and why to use them and check whether ARRIVE is the most applicable reporting guideline for your work.

Reporting guidelines are most useful when used early in research. When writing a manuscript or application, consider using the Full Guidance where you’ll see explanations and examples for each item.

After writing, demonstrate adherence by completing this checklist:

1. Specify where each item is described (see Note 1).
2. Cite this checklist (See Note 2).
3. Include your completed checklist as a supplement when submitting to a journal so that future readers can use it to find information.

	Item Description	Location (or reason for not reporting)
Essential 10
1. Study Design
1a. The groups being compared	For each experiment, describe the groups being compared, including control groups. If you did not use a control group, explain why.
1b. The experimental unit	Describe the experimental unit (e.g., a single animal, litter, or cage of animals).
2. Sample Size
2a. Number of Experimental Units	Specify the exact number of experimental units allocated to each group, and the total number in each experiment. Also indicate the total number of animals used.
2b. Sample Size Justification	Explain how the sample size was decided. Provide details of any a priori sample size calculation, if done.
3. Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria
3a. Inclusion and exclusion criteria	Describe any criteria used for including or excluding animals (or experimental units) during the experiment, and data points during the analysis. Specify if these criteria were established a priori. If no criteria were set, state this explicitly.
3b. Exclusions and Attritions	For each experimental group, report any animals, experimental units, or data points not included in the analysis and explain why. If there were no exclusions, state so.
3c. Numbers analysed	For each analysis, report the exact value of n in each experimental group.
4. Randomisation
4a. Randomisation Use	State whether randomisation was used to allocate experimental units to control and treatment groups. If done, provide the method used to generate the randomisation sequence.
4b. Confounders	Describe the strategy used to minimise potential confounders such as the order of treatments and measurements, or animal/cage location. If confounders were not controlled, state this explicitly.
5. Blinding/Masking	Describe who was aware of the group allocation at the different stages of the experiment (during the allocation, the conduct of the experiment, the outcome assessment, and the data analysis).
6. Outcome Measures
6a. Outcome Measures	Clearly define all outcome measures assessed (e.g., cell death, molecular markers, or behavioural changes).
6b. Primary Outcome Measure	For hypothesis-testing studies, specify the primary outcome measure, i.e., the outcome measure that was used to determine the sample size.
7. Statistical Methods
7a. Statistical Methods used for each Analysis	Provide details of the statistical methods used for each analysis, including software used.
7b. Statistical Assumptions	Describe any methods used to assess whether the data met the assumptions of the statistical approach, and what was done if the assumptions were not met.
8. Experimental Animals
8a. Species-appropriate Details	Provide species-appropriate details of the animals used, including species, strain and substrain, sex, age or developmental stage, and, if relevant, weight.
8b. Further Information	Provide further relevant information on the provenance of animals, health/immune status, genetic modification status, genotype, and any previous procedures.
9. Experimental Procedures
9a. What was done	What was done, how it was done, and what was used.
9b. When and how often procedures were conducted	For each experimental group, including controls, describe when and how often procedures were performed.
9c. Where procedures were conducted	For each experimental group, including controls, describe where procedures were conducted (including detail of any acclimatisation periods).
9d. Why procedures were done	For each experimental group, including controls, describe why procedures were conducted.
10. Results
10a. Summary/Descriptive Statistics per group	For each experiment conducted, including independent replications, report a summary/descriptive statistics for each experimental group, with a measure of variability where applicable (e.g., mean and SD, or median and range).
10b. Effect sizes and confidence intervals	For each experiment conducted, including independent replications, report the effect size with a confidence interval, if applicable.
Recommended Set
11. Abstract	Provide an accurate summary of the research objectives, animal species, strain and sex, key methods, principal findings, and study conclusions.
12. Background
12a. Rationale	Include sufficient scientific background to understand the rationale and context for the study, and explain the experimental approach.
12b. Species and model	Explain how the animal species and model used address the scientific objectives and, where appropriate, the relevance to human biology.
13. Objectives	Clearly describe the research question, research objectives and, where appropriate, specific hypotheses being tested.
14. Ethical statement	Provide the name of the ethical review committee or equivalent that has approved the use of animals in this study and any relevant licence or protocol numbers (if applicable). If ethical approval was not sought or granted, provide a justification.
15. Housing and husbandry	Provide details of housing and husbandry conditions, including any environmental enrichment.
16. Animal Care and Monitoring
16a. Reducing pain, suffering, and distress	Describe any interventions or steps taken in the experimental protocols to reduce pain, suffering, and distress.
16b. Adverse events	Report any expected or unexpected adverse events.
16c. Humane endpoints	Describe the humane endpoints established for the study, the signs that were monitored, and the frequency of monitoring. If the study did not set humane endpoints, state this.
17. Interpretation/ scientific implications
17a. Interpretation/scientific implications	Interpret the results, taking into account the study objectives and hypotheses, current theory, and other relevant studies in the literature.
17b. Limitations	Comment on the study limitations, including potential sources of bias, limitations of the animal model, and imprecision associated with the results.
18. Generalisability/translation	Comment on whether, and how, the findings of this study are likely to generalise to other species or experimental conditions, including any relevance to human biology (where appropriate).
19. Protocol registration	Provide a statement indicating whether a protocol (including the research question, key design features, and analysis plan) was prepared before the study, and if and where this protocol was registered.
20. Data Access	Provide a statement describing if and where study data are available.
21. Declaration of interests
21a. Conflicts of interests	Declare any potential conflicts of interest, including financial and nonfinancial. If none exist, this should be stated.
21b. Funding	List all funding sources (including grant identifier) and the role of the funder(s) in the design, analysis, and reporting of the study.

1 How to specify where content is

Tell the reader where they can find information. E.g.,

• Results; paragraph 2
• Methods, Participants; paragraphs 1 & 2.
• Table 3
• Supplement B, para. 4

If you have chosen not to describe an item, explain why. You can do this in the checklist, or as a note below it.

You can describe items in the article body, or in tables, figures, or supplementary materials, and should prioritize items you feel are most important to your intended audience. The order of items in your manuscript does not need to match the order of items in this checklist. You can decide how best to structure your work.

2 How to cite

Describe how you used ARRIVE at the end of your Methods section, referencing the resources you used e.g.,

‘We used the ARRIVE reporting guideline(1) to draft this manuscript, and the ARRIVE reporting checklist(2) when editing, included in supplement A’

If you use a reporting checklist, remember to include it as a supplement when publishing so that readers can easily find information and see how you have interpreted the guidance.

References

1.

Sert NP, Hurst V, Ahluwalia A, Alam S, Avey MT, Baker M, et al. The ARRIVE guidelines 2.0: Updated guidelines for reporting animal research. PLOS Biology [Internet]. 2020 Jul;18(7):e3000410. Available from: https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3000410

2.

Sert NP, Hurst V, Ahluwalia A, Alam S, Avey MT, Baker M, et al. The ARRIVE reporting checklist. In: Harwood J, Albury C, Beyer J de, Schlüssel M, Collins G, editors. The EQUATOR network reporting guideline platform [Internet]. The UK EQUATOR Centre; 2025. Available from: https:/resources.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/arrive/arrive-checklist.docx