Con satisfacción, compartimos este estudio de EARA sobre buenas prácticas en comunicación y transparencia en webs europeas. Como podéis ver en el informe adjunto, la web de SECAL ha recibido una calificación de EXCELENTE.

Dear EARA member,

Since the spring of 2018 EARA has been mapping the websites of European institutions that carry out biomedical research using animals. The mapping will help identify areas of good practice on communications and openness in the life sciences sector and areas where improvement is needed. It will also help EARA provide guidance on best practice to all its member organisations and the sector as a whole across Europe.

More than 1,300 websites within Europe have now been assessed in the EARA study and a rating system has been developed to analyse the data. 

An assessment of Sociedad Española para las Ciencias de Animales del Laboratorio (SECAL) ​has been made and its performance rating is attached to this email. If you would like to find out more about how you can improve the openness of your institution’s website, EARA would be more than happy to provide advice and guidance.

​Working towards openness and transparency

EARA anticipates that institutional websites will play an increasingly important role in informing members of the public, media, decision-makers and regulators about the use of animals in research and the contribution of animal research to biomedical science. The website study is therefore a tool that can then be used to encourage greater transparency in line with the recommendations made in Section 3 of the Review of Directive 2010/63/EU in November 2017.

Please find also attached the EARA study of EU-based websites to assess institutional openness in animal research (2018)​, which has been presented to the EU Commission.​

By surveying the openness of a large number of websites of biomedical research establishments across the EU, EARA concludes that the sector needs to make greater use of all opportunities to be more accessible and open, and to be more transparent with the public. Whilst progress has been made, we accept that much more could be done.

•             Just under half (44%) of the institutions conducting animal research carry a recognisable statement on their websites explaining the use of animals in research and animal welfare.

•             Just over half the websites assessed (53%) meet the criterion for providing ‘more information’, for instance by including the kind of animals used.

•             Well under a third (28%) of the websites can be considered to have prominent mentions of animal research – such as recognisable statements within three clicks of the homepage.

•             Only just over a third (36%) of the websites assessed carry any imagery related to animal research.

•             Around half the websites (49%) assessed featured some kind of case study on the animal research they support, fund or conduct.

•             Fewer than a quarter (23%) of the websites in the sector provide ‘Extensive Information’ online, for instance, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) or press releases.

Using the documentation and techniques developed in the course of this study, EARA intends in future years to revisit the websites involved and chart the improvement (or otherwise) of the institutional openness of the sector as a whole. We hope our initial findings, as captured in this study, can serve as a benchmark for measuring improvements across the sector in the years ahead. Ideally, we would conduct a sector-wide survey approximately every 18 months, with the first one planned for 2019.

We thank you for your help and co-operation on this important study and hope the information provided proved useful to your institution.

EARA study of EU-based websites report 2018

Informe individual de la página web de SECAL elaborado por EARA