Animals Editorial Policy

This policy sets out the editorial standards for articles in the Animals & Veterinary section of CAB Direct. It applies to four areas of coverage: pet health, livestock farming, animal behaviour, and entomology. Subjects range from preventive veterinary checks, pet obesity and kidney disease in cats to dairy cow welfare, sheep vaccination programmes, antimicrobial use in livestock, heat stress, varroa mites and insect decline. Articles aim to show where each claim comes from, separate what a study measured from how it has been interpreted, and avoid applying results beyond the species, setting and population that were studied. The general rules for the whole site are set out in the site-wide editorial policy; this page explains how they apply to animal and veterinary evidence.

General information, not veterinary advice

Animals articles are general information. They are not a substitute for examination, diagnosis or treatment by a veterinary surgeon, and they do not give advice on an individual animal, herd or flock. Where a study used a particular medicine, vaccine, feed or dose, that detail is reported as part of the study design, not as an instruction for treating an animal. Articles do not set out doses or treatment protocols to follow, and published vaccination or treatment programmes are described as background rather than as a plan for a particular herd or flock. Decisions about the health of a specific animal should be made with a veterinary surgeon who can examine it.

How Animals articles are prepared

An Animals article starts from a defined question and names the animals it concerns: the species, and where relevant the breed, age group or production system. The same standards apply whether the subject is weight management in dogs, fertility in dairy herds or the pheromones used by social insects.

• The species and setting are stated early, whether companion animals, commercial herds and flocks, research colonies or wild populations.
• Every figure is given with what it measures, where it applies and when it was recorded, together with its source.
• Where sources disagree, a range is preferred to a single average, with a short explanation of why the estimates differ.
• Effects are reported in absolute terms as well as relative ones: the proportion of animals affected in each group, for example, not only a percentage change.
• Results from controlled experiments are kept separate from associations in observational data and from reports by owners or producers.
• Scientific names are given where they are needed to identify a species precisely.
• Metric units come first, with the imperial equivalent in brackets at first mention, for example 37.5 °C (99.5 °F).
• Each article names its author and the author's stated role.

Sources and evidence

Animals articles rely on primary research, animal health standards and recorded data wherever these exist. A study result is traced to the study that produced it. Information on disease status and international animal health standards is traced to the responsible body, and breed or recording information to the organisation that maintains it. The organisations named below are examples of source types; naming them does not imply any partnership with, or endorsement by, those organisations.

Encyclopaedia entries and their mirrors can help locate primary sources but are not cited as evidence. Forums, content farms, press releases without a link to the underlying study and AI-generated text are not treated as evidence either. Supplement manufacturers' websites are not used as sources. Claims made by pet food or animal health product companies are reported as those companies' claims unless independent studies support them. Links in articles lead to the sources behind the claims rather than to shops or product pages. How the strength of evidence is judged is explained on the page about how evidence is rated.

Interpreting animal and veterinary evidence

Animal research differs widely in design and setting, and an article states which kind of evidence supports each conclusion. The table summarises the main types and the limits that are carried into the wording of an article.

Species, breed and setting

A result in one species is not presented as a result for another. Findings in laboratory rodents are not described as findings in dogs or cats, and a result from one insect species or site is not extended to insects in general. Differences between breeds, ages and production systems are named where they matter, for example between dairy breeds or between housed and grazing herds. Results from research farms are compared with typical commercial conditions where the study allows, and differences in climate, housing and management between countries are noted.

Behaviour, welfare and surveillance figures

Behaviour is described through what was observed and measured, and interpretations of what an animal experiences or intends are attributed to the researchers who made them. Welfare findings state which indicators were used, such as lameness, body condition or behaviour, because different measures can lead to different conclusions about the same system. Antimicrobial sales figures are described as sales rather than as treatment of particular animals, and insect trends are given with the period and the places that the records cover.

Editorial roles and team

The Animals & Veterinary section is written by five authors, each covering a defined part of the subject area. All five hold the role of author and are affiliated with the CAB Direct Editorial Team. The current roster does not list a separate reviewer or editor for the section, and none of the listed credentials is a veterinary surgeon's qualification.

Coverage by author

• Imogen Farrant (BSc Animal Science, MSc Animal Welfare): companion animal health, preventive care, diet and welfare.
• Rhys Penwarden (BSc Animal Science, MSc Livestock Production): dairy and beef production, herd health, feeding, fertility and livestock welfare.
• Lena Okonjo (BSc Zoology, MSc Animal Behaviour): animal behaviour, insects and entomology, pollinators and pest insects.
• Gethin Morrow (BSc Animal Biology, MSc Veterinary Epidemiology): sheep vaccination programmes and clostridial diseases, antimicrobials in livestock, heat stress in livestock, poultry and pig systems, and preventive herd health.
• Rowan Siu (BSc Biological Sciences, MSc Entomology): bees and wasps, varroa and other mites, insect communication through pheromones, sound and vibration, insect decline datasets and pollinators.

Full profiles with credentials and areas of coverage are listed on the authors page.

Review and publication checks

Before an Animals article is published, its claims and figures are checked against traceable sources. The checks concern the content of the article rather than a fixed sequence of review stages:

• each figure matches its source in value, unit, species, population and date;
• the design behind each result is described correctly, whether an experiment, an observational study, an owner survey, a monitoring series or a review;
• results are not extended to species, breeds or settings that the study did not include;
• the wording keeps general information separate from advice about an individual animal;
• technical and veterinary terms are explained at first use.

This policy does not describe a formal scientific or veterinary review stage for Animals articles, and none should be assumed.

Updates, corrections and reader feedback

This policy does not set a fixed review interval for Animals articles. An article can be revised when a cited source is updated, corrected or withdrawn, when new surveillance or monitoring figures replace older ones, or when a reported error is confirmed. Corrections are dated and remain visible in the article, so readers can see what was changed.

A possible error can be reported through the corrections page. A useful report gives the page address, the sentence or figure concerned and, where possible, a source that supports the correction. Each report is checked against the evidence, and a report does not by itself mean that the article will change. Other questions about the section can be sent through the contacts page. Questions about the health of a particular animal should go to a veterinary surgeon.

Conflicts of interest

This page does not set out a separate conflict-of-interest procedure for the Animals section, and none should be inferred from it. Questions about a possible conflict of interest in a published article can be raised through the contacts page.

Related CAB Direct pages

• Animals & Veterinary section: /animals/
• About CAB Direct: /about/
• Site-wide editorial policy: /editorial-policy/
• How evidence is rated: /how-we-rate-evidence/
• Authors: /authors/
• Corrections: /corrections/
• Contacts: /contacts/