MHR leads the way in research focused on the foundational and translational mechanisms of mammalian reproduction. To discover why you should publish your best research in our journal, read our ‘10 reasons to submit to MHR’. Top reasons include our focus on mammalian models (both human and non-human), no hidden publication charges, high journal ranking, and efficient publication turnaround.

We accept various manuscript formats including original research articles, reviews, commentaries, and editorials. 

Original research articles should advance the field, with novelty  and scientific rigor being key criteria for publication. Advances should provide new biological insight (more than having diagnostic or therapeutic potential).
MHR welcomes papers on biological research on mammalian (human and animal) reproduction in a wide range of topic areas.
As such, MHR publishes papers addressing the cellular, endocrinological, molecular, genetic or epigenetic aspects of reproductive science in the context of physiology and disease.
This includes, but is not limited to, gonad and reproductive tract development and function, gametogenesis, fertilization and embryo development, implantation, and pregnancy (first trimester and beyond).
We particularly favour mechanistic papers that test a hypothesis or offer well-founded explanations for observed phenomena.
In addition to human studies, MHR encourages research approaches using mammalian model systems.
Interdisciplinary approaches are particularly welcome.
Clinical studies will only be considered if they include a substantial molecular dimension; however, purely observational clinical studies or results from clinical trials may be more appropriate for submission to Human Reproduction.
Reviews (3000–5000 words) should clearly identify how they are unique with respect to existing reviews on a given topic and provide new interpretations and provide new directions for further inquiry in the field. We encourage authors to include informative graphics, schematics, and illustrations to increase the impact of their reviews. 

Commentaries should draw attention to urgent or emerging paradigm shifting matters, which preferentially should relate to articles published in MHR within the prior 12 months. Commentaries should highlight aspects of novelty and/or limitations that possibly went unnoticed during the review process of the article being referred to. 

Editorials are a prerogative of the members of the Editorial Board.

For examples of what primary manuscripts and reviews published in MHR should look like, please read ‘The most representative MHR publications of 2019–2020’. For more information about the suitability of research studies for MHR, please read ‘The ten most common reasons for original research manuscripts not being considered by MHR’.

Editor-in-Chief

Keith Jones
Faculty of Sciences University of Adelaide, Australia

Deputy Editor

Michele Boiani
Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Biomedicine Cell and Developmental Biology Münster, Germany

Associate Editors

Christophe Arnoult
Grenoble Alpes University, France

Areas of interest: fertilization, infertility, spermatogenesis, spermiogenesis, acrosome reaction, andrology, sperm physiology, male infertility, Assisted reproduction technologies (ART), drug discovery for reproductive technologies, oocyte activation and PLCzeta, phospholipase in gametes, ion channels.


Alexander Beristain
University of British Columbia, Canada

Areas of interest: placenta, trophoblast, cell signalling, cell culture, cell-cell interactions, trophoblast biology, molecular and cellular biology, 3d culture systems, maternal uterine immune regulation, innate immune cell processes in pregnancy.


Josephine Bowles
University of Queensland, Australia

Areas of interest: meiosis, germ cells, molecular genetics, animal models, differentiation, testis.


Pilar Coy
University of Murcia, Spain

Areas of interest: fertilization, female reproductive tract, zona pellucida.


Francesca Duncan
Northwestern University, USA

Areas of interest: reproductive aging, fertility preservation, follicle culture, stroma, ovary, follicle, oocyte


Jemma Evans
The Hudson Institute of Medical Research, Australia

Areas of interest: endometrium, female reproductive tract, implantation, contraception, cytokines/growth factors


Heng-Yu Fan
Zhejiang University, China

Areas of interest: signalling pathways, regulation of oocyte development, fertilization, early embryo development, follicle development, oocyte maturation, endocrinology


Paul Fowler
University of Aberdeen, UK

Areas of interest: Endocrinology, endometrium, gonadotrophins, menstrual cycle, ovarian follicle


Helena Fulka
Institute of Animal Science, Czech Republic

Areas of interest: oocyte maturation, oocyte quality, oogenesis, stem cells, micromanipulations, mammalian animal models (mouse, hamster, human, bovine and porcine species)


Erin Greaves
University of Edinburgh, UK

Areas of interest: Female reproductive biology, endometrium, endometriosis, mouse models, macrophages, pain


Geraldine Hartshorne
University of Warwick, UK

Areas of interest: Oogenesis, ovarian follicle, oocyte, embryo, fertilisation, meiosis, morphokinetics, IVM, IVF, time lapse imaging, kinetochores, chronobiology, infertility, lifestyle effects on fertility, PCO.


Gavin Kelsey
The Babraham Institute, UK

Areas of interest: epigenetics, imprinting, oocyte, preimplantation embryos, transgenerational inheritance, mammalian models


Maria Lalioti
Yale University, USA

Areas of interest: gene expression, gene mutations, genetic diagnosis, granulosa cells, transcription factors


Valentina Lodde
University of Milan, Italy

Areas of interest: oocyte maturation, oocyte quality, oogenesis, ovarian follicle, cumulus cells, oocyte nuclear morphology, animal models (bovine species, horses, carnivores and pigs)


Mala Mahendroo
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, USA

Areas of interest: pregnancy/parturition, uterus, molecular and physiological mechanisms of parturition, steroidal regulation of cervix remodelling


Binyam Mogessie
Bristol University, UK

Areas of interest: chromosome segregation, kinetochores, centromeres, cohesion, microtubules, actin, spindles, meiosis, oocytes, eggs, aneuploidy, high-resolution microscopy


Anne Navarrete-Santos
Martin Luther University, Germany

Areas of interest: embryo development, metabolic disorders, endocrinology of embryo, DOHaD


Brett Nixon
University of Newcastle, Australia

Areas of interest: spermatozoa, sperm biochemistry, sperm function, epididymal sperm maturation, capacitation, sperm-zona pellucida interactions, fertilization, extracellular vesicles, proteomics, small non-coding RNA, male infertility


Moira O’Bryan
Monash University, Australia

Areas of interest: genetics, spermatogenesis, sperm, motility, fertility, infertility, animal models


Bernard Roelen
Utrecht University, The Netherlands

Areas of interest: preimplantation embryos, stem cells, early differentiation, germ cells, pluripotency


Kathy Sharpe-Timms
University of Missouri, USA

Areas of interest: Female reproductive biology, adhesions, animal models, cell-cell interactions, cell culture, endometrium, endometrial receptivity, endometriosis, environmental effects, female reproductive tract, implantation, leukocytes, uterus


Tom Spencer
University of Missouri, USA

Areas of interest: uterus, placenta, pregnancy/parturition


Justin St John
Hudson Institute of Medical Research, Australia

Areas of interest: embryo development, gene expression, genetic diagnosis, germ cells, mitochondria


Timo Strünker
University of Münster, Germany

Areas of interest: sensory signal transduction in mammalian and invertebrate sperm, ion channels, receptors, and cellular messengers that allow sperm to register physical and chemical cues inside the female genital tract, cell signalling, membrane receptors, progesterone, spermatozoa, sperm biochemistry


Qing-Yuan Sun
Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

Areas of interest: germ cells, cell signalling, DNA methylation, aneuploidy, regulation of oogenesis, oocyte meiotic maturation, fertilization and early embryonic development


Alexander Suvorov
University of Massachusetts, USA

Areas of interest: developmental origin of health and disease, molecular and mechanistic aspects of DOHaD, toxicology, endocrinology, endocrine disrupting chemicals, animal model, gene expression, DNA methylation


Terje Svingen
Technical University of Denmark, Denmark

Areas of interest: testis development, male reproductive tract, gene expression, sex determination, endocrine disrupting chemicals, reproductive toxicology, DOHaD


Michael Taggart
Newcastle University, UK

Areas of interest: Uterine biology, animal model, caveolae, calcium signalling, myometrium, parturition, placenta, pregnancy, smooth muscle, uterus, vascular system, vascular signalling


Pablo Visconti
University of Massachusetts, USA

Areas of interest: Sperm capacitation/function, acrosome reaction, contraception, fertilisation, sperm, sperm-egg interaction


William Yeung
University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

Areas of interest: Reproductive biology/fertilization, interaction of sperm and egg, female reproductive tract, implantation, embryo development, fertilization, microRNAs, endometrial stem cells, sperm-zona pellucida interactions, effect of estradiol on endometrial receptivity


Krina Zondervan
University of Oxford, UK

Areas of interest: Genetics and epidemiology, endometriosis, epigenetics, environmental effects, gene expression, genetic disorders, pelvic pain, statistics


Maurizio Zuccotti
University of Pavia, Italy

Areas of interest: Mammalian reproduction, folliculogenesis, molecular and cytological markers of oocytes developmental competence, culture platforms of follicle maturation, bioengineering tools to study gonadal function, effects of environmental factors (e.g., xenobiotics) on oogenesis