Inclusion of a search filter on this site is not an endorsement of its validity or a recommendation for its use by the editors of this site, by the InterTASC Information Specialists SubGroup or by the (UK) National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). For suggestions on the appraisal of filters see the ISSG Search Filter Appraisal Checklist.
This page shows publications that have reviewed search filter performance and individual search filters.
Please note that other filter sites/filter collections may have relevant filters for this topic.
No performance reviews have been identified.
Database indexing changes over time and new vocabulary may be introduced. With older filters, please check the subject indexing to ensure that the subject indexing is still current and, if not, consider whether new vocabulary may need to be added to the filter. Please note that if filters are amended, the performance may change from that published in the original articles and the filter should be reported as amended from the original filter.
Canada's Drug Agency has a filter for animal studies. [EBSCO] Last updated November 2012.
Cochrane RCT filters. Lefebvre C, Glanville J, Briscoe S, Featherstone R, Littlewood A, Metzendorf M-I, Noel-Storr A, Paynter R, Rader T, Thomas J, Wieland LS. Chapter 4: Searching for and selecting studies [last updated September 2024]. In: Higgins JPT, Thomas J, Chandler J, Cumpston M, Li T, Page MJ, Welch VA (editors). Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions version 6.5. Cochrane, 2024. Available from www.training.cochrane.org/handbook.
Embase.com. 'NOT' the filter below with your search to remove records that are likely to be about animal experiments:
(rat:ti,tt OR rats:ti,tt OR mouse:ti,tt OR mice:ti,tt OR swine:ti,tt OR porcine:ti,tt OR murine:ti,tt OR sheep:ti,tt OR lambs:ti,tt OR pigs:ti,tt OR piglets:ti,tt OR rabbit:ti,tt OR rabbits:ti,tt OR cat:ti,tt OR cats:ti,tt OR dog:ti,tt OR dogs:ti,tt OR cattle:ti,tt OR bovine:ti,tt OR monkey:ti,tt OR monkeys:ti,tt OR trout:ti,tt OR marmoset*:ti,tt) AND ‘animal experiment’/de)
(‘animal experiment’/de NOT (‘human experiment’/de OR ‘human’/de)
1 OR 2
Embase [Ovid]. 'NOT' the filter below with your search to remove records that are likely to be about animal experiments:
(rat OR rats OR mouse OR mice OR swine OR porcine OR murine OR sheep OR lambs OR pigs OR piglets OR rabbit OR rabbits OR cat OR cats OR dog OR dogs OR cattle OR bovine OR monkey OR monkeys OR trout OR marmoset$1).ti. AND animal experiment/
animal experiment/ NOT (human experiment/ OR human/)
1 OR 2
Canada's Drug Agency has standard and sensitive search filters for animal studies. [Ovid]
Multifile standard search in MEDLINE and Embase. Last updated November 2012.
Multifile standard search in MEDLINE, Embase and PsycINFO. Last updated November 2012.
Canada's Drug Agency has standard and sensitive search filters for animal studies. [Ovid]
Multifile standard search in MEDLINE and Embase. Last updated November 2012.
Multifile standard search in MEDLINE, Embase and PsycINFO. Last updated November 2012.
PubMed search Last updated November 2012.
Cochrane RCT filters. Lefebvre C, Glanville J, Briscoe S, Featherstone R, Littlewood A, Metzendorf M-I, Noel-Storr A, Paynter R, Rader T, Thomas J, Wieland LS. Chapter 4: Searching for and selecting studies [last updated September 2024]. In: Higgins JPT, Thomas J, Chandler J, Cumpston M, Li T, Page MJ, Welch VA (editors). Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions version 6.5. Cochrane, 2024. Available from www.training.cochrane.org/handbook.
'NOT' the filter below with your Ovid search results to remove records that are likely to be about animals:
exp animals/ not humans.sh.
'NOT' the filter below with your PubMed search results to remove records that are likely to be about animals:
animals [mh] NOT humans [mh]
Askin N, Ostapyk T & Epp C have commented in a 2025 JMLA paper that this algorithm excludes human studies probably due to automated MeSH indexing
Askin, N, Ostapyk, T, Epp, C. Filtering failure: the impact of automated indexing in Medline on retrieval of human studies for knowledge synthesis. Journal of the Medical Library Association. 2025;113.
Canada's Drug Agency has a standard search filter for animal studies. [Ovid] Multifile standard search in MEDLINE, Embase and PsycINFO. Last updated November 2012.