Ethical Perspectives Influence the Formation of Researchers’ Perceptions of Experimental Conduct in a Preclinical Animal Experimentation Training Program

Animal experimentation is conducted under regulatory and institutional frameworks that require ethical standards, safety management, scientific validity, and compliance with relevant guidelines. Accordingly, institutions that conduct preclinical research are responsible for providing structured training programs that prepare researchers to conduct animal experiments appropriately. However, empirical evaluations of such training programs and their outcomes remain limited. This study evaluated a comprehensive preclinical animal experimentation training program covering ethics, regulatory requirements, safety, and technical knowledge, using survey data collected from researchers who completed the program at Samsung Medical Center. The Kirkpatrick training evaluation model was applied as an analytical framework, and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to explore researchers' perceptions of animal experimentation conduct. The results demonstrated that the training program was associated with improved researcher perceptions, supported by acceptable reliability and validity of the measurement instrument. In particular, perceptions related to animal research ethics were significantly associated with experimental performance. An exploratory structural model was developed to identify key determinants of researcher perceptions and to support future refinement of training evaluation approaches. These findings suggest that well-designed training programs can foster ethically grounded and practically oriented attitudes among researchers, thereby strengthening accountability in animal experimentation and supporting the implementation of the Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement (3Rs) principles. This study provides evidence-based insights for institutions, training coordinators, and oversight bodies seeking to improve laboratory animal research training programs.