Titles and abstracts of scientific reports ignore variation among species

Abstract

An analysis of more than 1000 research articles in biology reveals that the name of the species being studied is not mentioned in the title or abstract of many articles. Consequently, such data are not easily accessible in the PubMed database. These omissions can mislead readers about the true nature of developmental processes and delay the acceptance of valid species differences. To improve the accuracy of the scientific record, I suggest that journals should require that authors include the name of the species being studied in the title or abstract of submitted papers.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.05075.001

“Fingeryeyed” Description: Laboratory Animals and Transspecies Empathy in VanderMeer and Yanagihara

“…They demonstrate that nearly a third of all papers fail to note the number of animals used. Similarly, BarbaraMigeon (2014) found that in more than 1000 biology research articles collected between 2012 and 2014, the animal species is not mentioned in the title 61% of the time, (if not in the title) in the abstract 35% of the time, or at all 23% of the time 3. For more on the ethics of care approach and the role of aesthetics, see Josephine Donovan's The Aesthetics of Care: On the Literary Treatment ofAnimals, Bloomsbury, 2016.…”