Reproductive biology and endocrinology
Reproductive physiology, ovarian and endometrial biology, hormonal regulation, gametes, implantation, reproductive genetics and genomics, immunology, and mechanisms of reproductive disorders.
Manuscript fit
Aims and scope
Journal of Women's Reproductive Health (JWRH) publishes research on reproductive biology, function and disorders; fertility; pregnancy and maternal health; and gynecologic and sexual health across the lifespan. Its remit connects basic and translational science with clinical, epidemiologic, psychosocial and health-services research.
- Abbreviation JWRH
- ISSN 2381-862X
- Discipline Women's reproductive health
- Publisher Open Access Pub
Journal aim
JWRH advances understanding of women's reproductive and sexual health, from biological mechanisms and disease to prevention, care, experience and access. It considers research across the lifespan, including pediatric and adolescent gynecology, the reproductive years, menopause and later-life reproductive-system health.
A reproductive or sexual-health question must be central to the contribution. Basic, preclinical and translational studies belong when their reproductive relevance is explicit and scientifically justified; demonstrated clinical benefit is not a prerequisite. Clinical, qualitative, population and policy research should explain the health, care or experience it investigates.
Authors should describe sex, gender, anatomy, age and study populations accurately and respectfully, as relevant to the question. Partner or comparative studies may fit when they directly inform women's reproductive or sexual health.
Core scientific and clinical domains
These domains connect mechanisms, health and care across the lifespan. Studies may address one domain or investigate relationships among them.
Fertility and reproductive medicine
Preconception health, ovulation and ovarian reserve, infertility, assisted reproduction including IVF and ICSI, embryo research relevant to reproduction, endometrial receptivity and fertility preservation.
Pediatric and adolescent gynecology
Reproductive-tract development, prepubertal gynecologic conditions, puberty, menarche, adolescent menstrual and sexual health, education and access to appropriate care.
Contraception, abortion and family planning
Contraceptive choice, effectiveness and continuation; reproductive autonomy; unintended pregnancy; abortion and post-abortion care; counseling, service access and outcomes.
Pregnancy and maternal health
Pregnancy physiology, placentation, antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal care, high-risk pregnancy and complications, pregnancy loss and stillbirth, labor and delivery, maternal morbidity and mortality, postpartum recovery, lactation and breastfeeding. Perinatal outcomes belong when linked to the pregnancy or maternal-care question.
Menstrual and gynecologic disorders
Menstrual and ovulatory disorders, PCOS, endometriosis, uterine, ovarian and cervical conditions, reproductive-tract infections, pelvic-floor health and reproductive or gynecologic surgery.
Sexual health, medicine and rights
Sexual function and dysfunction, sexually transmitted infections, sexual-violence care, sexual well-being, reproductive and sexual rights, and related clinical, behavioral, social and service research.
Gynecologic oncology and prevention
Gynecologic cancers, screening, diagnosis, treatment and survivorship; reproductive consequences of cancer therapy; oncofertility; and biological or translational studies addressing these conditions.
Menopause and later-life health
Ovarian aging, perimenopause, the menopausal transition and postmenopausal gynecologic and sexual health, including symptoms, treatment, function and quality of life.
Population, psychosocial and interdisciplinary research
Reproductive and sexual health also depend on experience, relationships, services and social conditions. These are substantive research areas within the journal's remit.
Epidemiology, services and policy
Fertility and reproductive morbidity, maternal outcomes, contraception and abortion access, screening, inequalities, service quality, health economics and policy. Studies should identify the reproductive or sexual-health question and use an appropriate analytical approach.
Mental health and sociocultural experience
Psychological, behavioral, social and cultural dimensions of infertility, pregnancy, pregnancy loss, postpartum health, menopause and sexual or reproductive conditions; decision-making, violence-related care and lived experience.
- Biomedical and clinical interfaces
- Nutrition, metabolism, primary care, oncology, infectious disease and other disciplines belong when the main contribution concerns reproductive biology, a reproductive or sexual-health condition, or its care. A study does not need a fertility or pregnancy endpoint to address a gynecologic or sexual-health question.
- Partner, fetal and neonatal research
- Partner factors, embryo and fetal development, and perinatal outcomes may fit when they directly address fertility, pregnancy, placental function or maternal reproductive care. General child development and pediatric medicine require a substantive connection to this remit.
- Technology, imaging and methods
- Reproductive imaging, diagnostics, biomarkers, digital health, measurement instruments and experimental methods may fit at basic, preclinical or clinical stages. The intended reproductive-health use and the validation appropriate to that stage must be clear.
Evidence expectations and scope boundary
A clear question, appropriate methods and transparent reporting are expected at every research stage. Conclusions must remain proportionate to the study design, model and data.
- Basic and mechanistic
- Cellular, molecular and physiological studies can characterize reproductive processes and generate hypotheses. Cell-based findings alone do not establish clinical benefit.
- Preclinical
- Animal and experimental models require biological justification, appropriate controls and relevant welfare approvals. Model findings do not establish human treatment efficacy or safety.
- Clinical
- Report participant selection, interventions or exposures, outcomes, statistical uncertainty and limitations. Observational associations do not by themselves establish causation; treatment and fertility claims require suitable clinical evidence.
- Population and qualitative
- Explain sampling, context, measures and analytical methods. Epidemiologic, qualitative and policy conclusions should reflect the data, potential bias and limits of transferability.
Research integrity
Human-participant research requires appropriate ethics approval or exemption, informed consent and protection of identifiable clinical and reproductive data. Every empirical research manuscript must include a data-availability statement. Funding and competing interests must be disclosed.
Interventional clinical trials must be registered in an accepted public trial registry at or before the first participant provides consent for enrollment. The registry name, registration number, and registration date must be reported in the manuscript.
Outside the journal's scope
- General medical, nutritional, mental-health or aging studies in female populations without a substantive reproductive, gynecologic or sexual-health question.
- Laboratory or technology studies whose only connection is the use of female-derived cells or hormones, without a meaningful reproductive-health question.
- General parenting, child-development or neonatal research without a direct fertility, pregnancy, reproductive-system or maternal-care connection.
- General service audits, social commentary or policy discussions in which reproductive or sexual health is incidental.
- Men's reproductive health studied independently of a women's reproductive-health or relevant partner question.
- General oncology unrelated to gynecologic cancers, reproductive function, sexual health or reproductive care.
Scientific suitability
Subject fit does not establish methodological quality. Unsupported fertility or pregnancy claims, commercial product promotion, and wellness assertions lacking appropriate evidence are unsuitable for publication. Case reports should offer a clear clinical lesson; perspectives and policy analyses should present a reasoned scholarly argument.
Article types and research community
The journal considers the following manuscript groupings. Detailed preparation and reporting requirements are provided in the Instructions for Authors.
- Original Research
- Basic and preclinical reproductive research, translational studies, clinical trials, cohort and observational studies, qualitative and mixed-methods research, population studies, and health-services or implementation evaluations.
- Reviews and evidence syntheses
- Systematic and scoping reviews, meta-analyses and other critical syntheses that define the question, methods and implications for reproductive-health knowledge or practice.
- Case Reports and Case Series
- Clinically significant presentations with appropriate consent and a clear diagnostic, therapeutic, safety or care-delivery lesson.
- Methods, Protocols and Short Reports
- Research methods, validated measures, study or clinical protocols, and concise reports whose contribution is supported by sufficient evidence.
- Guidelines, Perspectives and Policy Analyses
- Evidence-based guidance, consensus work, scholarly perspectives and policy analyses with a defined reproductive-health purpose and transparent evidential basis.
Authors and readers
JWRH serves reproductive biologists, geneticists and immunologists; obstetricians and gynecologists; reproductive endocrinologists and fertility specialists; midwives and nurses; sexual-health researchers; epidemiologists; and psychosocial, health-services and policy researchers.
Interdisciplinary submissions
State the reproductive or sexual-health question, explain the contribution of each discipline, and justify the chosen model, population and methods. Identify what the work establishes and which clinical or policy questions remain open.
Is the manuscript a fit?
- The central contribution concerns women's reproductive biology, a reproductive or sexual-health condition, or related care, experience, rights or access.
- The biological model or study population, relevant life stage and research setting are defined.
- The methods, measures and validation are appropriate to the research stage and question.
- Conclusions distinguish mechanistic findings, associations and demonstrated clinical effects.
- Ethics, privacy, data availability, funding and conflicts are addressed as applicable.
- The manuscript fits a supported article type and explains its relevance to the journal's research community.