Dear ORS Members,

As your Editor-in-Chief of our Journal of Orthopaedic Research, conflicts between ORS members over ethical use of animals for research have come to my attention and need to be addressed. In general, these conflicts are about cultural, regional, and national differences of opinion and laws pertaining to animal species, injury models, pain managements, and pain assessments, in Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) approved protocols. As we are an international community, these differences are to be expected. However, to adequately respect large differences, I believe the time has come to go beyond mere IACUC approval for peer reviewed publication in the JOR. Therefore, I have tasked the ORS Preclinical Models Section to produce new guidance regarding expectations of animal care, pain control, and experimental design for submissions to the JOR which involve preclinical animal models. Please review the first draft of this new guidance and post your thoughts and recommendations on this subject in the form field below. This information will be collated in January to derive a final draft of guidance that will be voted on for approval at the Preclinical Models Section meeting at the 2025 ORS Annual Meeting in February. As my intention is to incorporate the approved guidance into the JOR submission process for peer reviewed research articles, your participation in this process is critical.

I thank you in advance.

Sincerely,

Edward Schwarz, PhD
Fellow of the Orthopaedic Research Society
Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Orthopaedic Research