A call for CARE in animal behaviour: an holistic ethical research framework

Despite increasing awareness of animal welfare, there are vast discrepancies between legal protections and recommended practices for different species, in different countries and at different institutions. While many guidelines are now available, they often target specific research contexts or species, leaving a gap in comprehensive ethical oversight across the entire research process. Within animal behaviour research, there is a bias for considering ethics during only the methodology and design phase. This often means only the immediate impact on animals directly involved in the research is accounted for. Conducting ethical research should extend beyond ensuring animal welfare during data collection and include environmentally sustainable research practices, alongside the ethical treatment of people working within and alongside animal behaviour research. We offer the Consult, Approve, Research and Evaluate (CARE) framework to improve the scientific integrity, transparency and ethical practices within the field of animal behaviour. CARE encourages researchers and academic bodies to (1) Consult existing (academic and traditional) knowledge on the study species, local human–animal interactions, their environment and previously implemented ethical practices and to reflect on personal experience and biases when approaching a study question; (2) seek Approval from relevant bodies (e.g. institutional ethics committees and local and government authorities) even when not mandatory; (3) uphold ethical standards while carrying out Research and (4) Evaluate the short- and long-term impacts of the specific study. Our framework is designed to distribute accountability at every level of the academic system, from individual researchers to their institutions, funding bodies and publishers. We pitch this framework as a ‘version 1.0’ to recognize the fast-evolving nature of ethical standards in animal behaviour research and to allow space for improvement. CARE provides a necessary infrastructure for addressing systemic biases and ensuring ethically sound, socially responsible and environmentally sustainable animal behaviour research. • CARE refers to the Consult, Approve, Research and Evaluate framework. • It is an infrastructure for ethical research beyond a project’s duration. • It connects animal welfare, EDI and environmentally sustainable methods. • It spreads accountability across all academic levels to address systemic biases. • It is ongoing and committed to continuous evaluation and refinement.