Statement of Peer Review

The abstracts were evaluated based on the principle that priority was given to works directly related to laboratory animal sciences. This included first, improvements aimed at animal welfare; second, reduction; and third, innovations and refinements in animal models. Following these, studies focused on describing animal models were considered. Research involving the use of animals was also considered. Additionally, abstracts describing courses and training opportunities related to laboratory animal science were considered, but even when accepted for display they were not considered for Scientific or Best Poster awards. While other relevant topics were regarded as supplementary, they remained outside the core focus, as they did not fall under the strict domain of “animal science.” Consequently, abstracts predominantly or only involving in vitro research were reconsidered by the whole board, and rejected or accepted in the light of the relevance of in vitro results to potentially contribute to the 3Rs principle.

For poster abstracts, 1 Primary Reviewer selected from the Association Board was responsible for peer review and preliminary evaluation. All board members were included in a second, plenary review and discussion for final decision.

For oral presentations, speakers were all invited by the AISAL Board and Congress Scientific Committee. Presentation topics were approved by the AISAL Board and Congress Scientific Committee. Abstracts were revised and approved by the AISAL Board upon preparation of the conference report.

English Language review by V. Galligioni and S. Fuochi; During the preparation of this manuscript, the authors used ChatGPT (GPT-4-turbo) for the purposes of English language editorial refinement. The AI tool was employed under direct human supervision. All content has been reviewed and edited by the authors to ensure accuracy and relevance, who take full responsibility for it.