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Neuroscience Owing to perceptions about the natural variation caused by hormonal cycling, female animals have largely been excluded from preclinical research in various disciplines, particularly neuroscience. However, male rodents exhibit as much behavioral and hormonal variation as female rodents, demonstrating that the exclusion of female animals in research is unfounded. In a Perspective, Shansky discusses the history of the decision to exclude female animals and the encouraging move toward including them in preclinical research. However, in the absence of advice about how to include female animals in research, the concern of using male animals as the archetype could continue. Science , this issue p. [825][1] [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aaw7570