| Summary: | The costs of conducting research at universities and independent research institutes are covered by funds expended directly for research ("direct costs") and by funds computed as a percentage of the direct charges ("indirect costs") for such expenses as heat, air conditioning, lighting, and administrative services. Indirect costs are also called facilities and administrative, or F&A, costs. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has a policy, Circular, A-21, that provides criteria to determine which costs are direct and which are indirect. Animal models maintained under carefully controlled conditions (including behavioral management) more reliably yield high-quality scientific data than animal models maintained otherwise. During the last several decades, the quality of animal-based research and the care that animals receive in research programs has improved significantly. The changes have been driven by scientific advances and increased professionalism in laboratory animal science. Those advances, as well as more rigorous federal regulatory requirements, have required substantial institutional investment in facility and equipment modernization, staff and research oversight, and regulatory functions. Public accountability and credibility of animal-based research have also improved especially since 1966 when the Laboratory Animal Welfare Act, Public Law 89-544, was passed. These scientific advances coupled with increasingly sophisticated demands of biomedical research have lead to the development of the modern animal research facility (ARF)
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