DRIVER Recommendations

Transparent and accurate reporting of experiments is an essential component of good biological research. Well reported studies allow readers to assess the reliability of published results, and facilitate reproduction of the methods.

Reporting standards help researchers ensure that manuscripts are complete. Building on our experience developing the ARRIVE guidelines for in vivo researchers, we have developed a set of six recommendations specifically tailored to reporting in vitro experiments: the DRIVER recommendations.

In vitro studies directly impact animal use, either because they use animal-derived reagents, or because they lead to subsequent animal experiments. In vitro models also provide significant replacement opportunities for some animal studies. For these models to be credible, and for the research community to have confidence in them, it is important that they be reported to the same standards expected of animal experiments. However, recent studies have shown that the reporting of in vitro experiments is often inadequate. For example, in a recent large-scale project examining reproducibility in cancer biology studies, none of the manuscripts contained enough detail to fully reproduce their methods. Our new recommendations promote a harmonised approach for journals to improve the standards of reporting in in vitro research.

The recommendations have been developed by a diverse, international working group, drawing from expertise in research funding and publishing, methodology and statistics, and research in academic, regulatory and industry settings. They were released as the RIVER recommendations in a preprint in June 2023.

Following feedback on the RIVER recommendations preprint and user testing we are evolving RIVER into DRIVER – Designing and Reporting In Vitro Experiments Responsibly. 

We identified the need for additional guidance to help researchers apply the concepts included in the recommendations to the design and conduct of in vitro studies, specifically around issues that risk compromising the reliability of the findings reported in publications. 

The DRIVER recommendations will provide researchers with practical guidance and examples to facilitate rigorous experimental design, alongside recommendations on reporting these same concepts once the experiment is complete.

The DRIVER recommendations will be launched as a dedicated online resource on the NC3Rs website. This format will provide a flexible, living resource with:

• Interactive elements to explain key concepts and provide practical examples,
• Specific guidance to support best practice in the design of in vitro experiments and their reporting,
• Tailored content for specific models and methodologies that would not be possible with a traditional reporting guideline,

We will release the first version of the online resource for the DRIVER recommendations later in 2025.

Throughout 2024 we conducted a study to 'user test' the original RIVER recommendations and assess whether the recommendations and their explanations were clear, well understood and useful in practice. 

Findings from the user testing have been used to evolve RIVER into the DRIVER recommendations. We are currently performing a qualitative analysis of the feedback we have received, and once complete we will publish our findings. 

We continue to welcome feedback from in vitro researchers. Please email RIVER@nc3rs.org.uk with any comments or to request further information on any aspect of the recommendations.

Previous members

Some members of the RIVER working group have declared competing interests, these are listed in the document below.