Do animal studies translate to humans?
So how is the current translational process (dys)functioning? Many animal studies do result in publications, which is considered important for the output of individual researchers and institutions in order to share this new scientific knowledge. However, the surprising state of affairs is that the quality of performing and reporting of animal studies is largely insufficient, which makes it impossible to draw scientifically reliable conclusions (Hooijmans & Ritskes-Hoitinga, 2013; Ritskes-Hoitinga & Wever, 2018). Moreover, often only positive results are being published, as negative/neutral results are less likely to be accepted for publication (van der Worp et al., 2010). This gives a skewed summary of the available scientific evidence, adding to the reproducibility and translational crisis (Freedman, Cockburn, & Simcoe, 2015). Translational success rates for Stroke and Multiple Sclerosis from animals to humans are reported to be as low as 0.04% (O’Collins et al., 2006; Vesterinen et al., 2010).