What Do Scientists Mean When They Talk About Research Animals “Volunteering”?

What is it about?

What do scientists mean when they talk about animals "volunteering" to participate in behavioral and psychological research? We explore this question through a qualitative textual analysis of the scientific literature. We found that “voluntary” and related terms are used in a variety of distinct ways, which carry a range of ethical and political connotations. While any reference to volunteering might be assumed to imply free, unconstrained, and unpaid participation in an activity, in the animal research literature the term is often used simply to signal a lack of physical restraint, even though other human-imposed constraints are at play. We argue that while "truly" voluntary behavior may be impossible, there is a case for seeing use of the language of volunteering as an ethical or political move in which scientists aim to highlight a goal of minimizing human control, promoting animal welfare, or representing their research as ethically acceptable.

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