Q: How do I write about the limitations of animal experimentation?

You have asked a valid question. In fact, listing and describing the drawbacks while not denying the merits of your research is what writing the limitations of a study is all about. Writing about the limitations shows how ‘aware’ you are of both the positive and negative outcomes of your study as well as how honest you are as a researcher. In fact, as your research is around animals, the reviewer would probably expect to read about the limitations because findings and remedies from animal studies are often not transferable to humans.

Apart from that, based on your field of study (whether stem cell, toxicity, or simply veterinary), there may be specific limitations you need to discuss. Based on the number of limitations you identify, you could list them and then write a line or two about each, such as how some of them could be addressed in future research. Take care not to write too much, for as you have yourself written, you don’t want to undermine your research.

For more pointers, you may refer to the following resources:

• What are the limitations of a study and how to write them?
• The why and how of presenting research limitations: A case study