Research Ethics

The International Journal of Sexual Health, Fertility and Reproductive Medicine is committed to ensuring that research published in the journal is conducted according to appropriate ethical, scientific, clinical, and professional standards. Authors are responsible for ensuring that their research complies with all applicable institutional, national, and international ethical requirements.

1. Ethical Conduct of Research

Authors must conduct research honestly, responsibly, and transparently. Research should be designed and performed in a manner that protects the rights, safety, dignity, privacy, confidentiality, and welfare of research participants and animals, where applicable.

2. Research Involving Human Participants

Research involving human participants must comply with applicable ethical standards and institutional requirements.

Where applicable, manuscripts should provide information regarding:

  • Ethics committee or institutional review board approval

  • Informed consent from participants

  • Protection of participant privacy and confidentiality

  • Appropriate handling of personal and sensitive information

  • Clinical trial registration, where required

Authors should not include information that could identify individual participants unless appropriate consent has been obtained.

3. Informed Consent

Where research involves human participants, authors should obtain appropriate informed consent before participation.

Participants should be adequately informed about the purpose, procedures, potential risks and benefits, confidentiality measures, and their rights concerning participation in the research.

4. Research Involving Animals

Research involving animals must follow applicable institutional and regulatory requirements for animal care and welfare.

Authors should provide appropriate information regarding:

  • Ethical approval

  • Animal species and number used

  • Experimental procedures

  • Measures taken to minimize pain and distress

  • Appropriate housing and care

  • Humane endpoints, where applicable

Unnecessary suffering or inappropriate treatment of animals is not acceptable.

5. Sexual and Reproductive Health Research

Research involving sexual health, fertility, infertility, reproductive medicine, reproductive technologies, sexual behavior, reproductive disorders, or related healthcare interventions should be conducted responsibly and in accordance with applicable ethical, clinical, safety, and regulatory requirements.

Authors should ensure that research participants are treated with respect and that sensitive sexual and reproductive health information is collected, stored, analyzed, and reported responsibly.

6. Human Biological Samples

Research involving human tissues, reproductive cells, embryos, genetic material, biological samples, or other human-derived materials must comply with applicable ethical requirements.

Authors should ensure that appropriate consent, ethical approval, privacy protections, and relevant permissions have been obtained where required.

7. Clinical and Experimental Research

Authors conducting clinical, laboratory, or experimental studies should follow appropriate scientific, clinical, and safety standards. Experimental procedures, participant characteristics, materials, instruments, interventions, and analytical methods should be reported accurately to support transparency, reproducibility, and responsible research.

8. Data Integrity

Authors must report research findings accurately and honestly.

The following practices are unacceptable:

  • Fabrication of data

  • Falsification of results

  • Manipulation of research findings

  • Selective reporting intended to mislead

  • Unjustified alteration or manipulation of images, clinical data, or research records

9. Ethics Approval

Where ethical approval is required, authors should clearly identify the approving institution, ethics committee, or institutional review board and provide relevant approval information in the manuscript.

If ethical approval is not required for a particular study, authors should provide an appropriate statement explaining this where necessary. For studies involving sensitive sexual or reproductive health information, authors should provide sufficient information regarding privacy, confidentiality, informed consent, and ethical oversight as applicable.