Recommendations for the inclusion and study of sex and gender in research

David P. Finn; Brian E. McGuire; Simon Beggs; Katelynn E. Boerner; Karen D. Davis; Ruth Defrin; Yves De Koninck; Hemakumar Devan; Ryan Donovan; Eleanora Fetter; Herta Flor; Brona M. Fullen; Catherine R. Healy; Edmund Keogh; Rohini Kuner; Miriam Kunz; Rebecca M. Lane; Stefan Lautenbacher; Emeran A. Mayer; Jeffrey S. Mogil; Siobhain M. O'Mahony; Kieran O'Sullivan; Louise Riordan; Michael W. Slater; Francesco Scarlatti; George Shorten; Kathleen A. Salter; Jennifer N. Stinson; Kevin E. Vowels; Suellen M. Walker; Ipek Yalcin; Michelle Roche

doi:10.1038/s41593-025-02164-1

Recommendations for the inclusion and study of sex and gender in research

David P. Finn, Brian E. McGuire, Simon Beggs, Katelynn E. Boerner, Karen D. Davis, Ruth Defrin, Yves De Koninck, Hemakumar Devan, Ryan Donovan, Eleanora Fetter, Herta Flor, Brona M. Fullen, Catherine R. Healy, Edmund Keogh, Rohini Kuner, Miriam Kunz, Rebecca M. Lane, Stefan Lautenbacher, Emeran A. Mayer, Jeffrey S. MogilSiobhain M. O'Mahony, Kieran O'Sullivan, Louise Riordan, Michael W. Slater, Francesco Scarlatti, George Shorten, Kathleen A. Salter, Jennifer N. Stinson, Kevin E. Vowels, Suellen M. Walker, Ipek Yalcin, Michelle Roche

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Abstract

Sex and gender are important variables in research, but they are inconsistently explored. The international PAINDIFF Network makes 13 recommendations for studying sex and gender as variables in pain research, which are applicable across the spectrum of biopsychosocial research. Five universal recommendations apply to the majority of research studies: (1) include males and females as standard practice, (2) account for sex in randomization or counterbalancing and testing order, (3) power for sex differences when sex is a primary experimental variable, (4) include detailed reporting of experimental design, and (5) conduct sex-disaggregated analysis and reporting. Three additional recommendations specifically for preclinical studies and five additional recommendations for human and clinical studies are included. Recommendations for stakeholders, such as editors, reviewers, funding bodies and policymakers, have also been developed. Wide adoption and implementation of these recommendations will reduce variability, improve reproducibility and enhance the translatability of research findings within and beyond the field of pain.

Original language	English
Journal	Nature Neuroscience
Early online date	29 Dec 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-025-02164-1
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 29 Dec 2025

Funding

Funding for this project was provided by ERA-NET NEURON and the Health Research Board of Ireland (NG-2022-2). E.K. provided consultancy services to RB plc through the University of Bath. F.S. is a postgraduate scholar supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 955684. C.H. and R.L. were supported by the Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarships from the Irish Research Council and Research Ireland - Taighde Éireann (GOIPG/2021/1434 and GOIPG/2024/4981). We are grateful to C. O’Connor for aiding in the creation of Fig. 4.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Neuroscience

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10.1038/s41593-025-02164-1

PAINDIFF (accepted author manuscript)Accepted author manuscript, 1.85 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

Finn, D. P., McGuire, B. E., Beggs, S., Boerner, K. E., Davis, K. D., Defrin, R., De Koninck, Y., Devan, H., Donovan, R., Fetter, E., Flor, H., Fullen, B. M., Healy, C. R., Keogh, E., Kuner, R., Kunz, M., Lane, R. M., Lautenbacher, S., Mayer, E. A., ... Roche, M. (2025). Recommendations for the inclusion and study of sex and gender in research. Nature Neuroscience. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-025-02164-1

Finn, DP, McGuire, BE, Beggs, S, Boerner, KE, Davis, KD, Defrin, R, De Koninck, Y, Devan, H, Donovan, R, Fetter, E, Flor, H, Fullen, BM, Healy, CR, Keogh, E, Kuner, R, Kunz, M, Lane, RM, Lautenbacher, S, Mayer, EA, Mogil, JS, O'Mahony, SM, O'Sullivan, K, Riordan, L, Slater, MW, Scarlatti, F, Shorten, G, Salter, KA, Stinson, JN, Vowels, KE, Walker, SM, Yalcin, I & Roche, M 2025, 'Recommendations for the inclusion and study of sex and gender in research', Nature Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-025-02164-1

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abstract = "Sex and gender are important variables in research, but they are inconsistently explored. The international PAINDIFF Network makes 13 recommendations for studying sex and gender as variables in pain research, which are applicable across the spectrum of biopsychosocial research. Five universal recommendations apply to the majority of research studies: (1) include males and females as standard practice, (2) account for sex in randomization or counterbalancing and testing order, (3) power for sex differences when sex is a primary experimental variable, (4) include detailed reporting of experimental design, and (5) conduct sex-disaggregated analysis and reporting. Three additional recommendations specifically for preclinical studies and five additional recommendations for human and clinical studies are included. Recommendations for stakeholders, such as editors, reviewers, funding bodies and policymakers, have also been developed. Wide adoption and implementation of these recommendations will reduce variability, improve reproducibility and enhance the translatability of research findings within and beyond the field of pain.",

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AU - Boerner, Katelynn E.

AU - Davis, Karen D.

AU - Defrin, Ruth

AU - De Koninck, Yves

AU - Devan, Hemakumar

AU - Donovan, Ryan

AU - Fetter, Eleanora

AU - Flor, Herta

AU - Fullen, Brona M.

AU - Healy, Catherine R.

AU - Keogh, Edmund

AU - Kuner, Rohini

AU - Kunz, Miriam

AU - Lane, Rebecca M.

AU - Lautenbacher, Stefan

AU - Mayer, Emeran A.

AU - Mogil, Jeffrey S.

AU - O'Mahony, Siobhain M.

AU - O'Sullivan, Kieran

AU - Riordan, Louise

AU - Slater, Michael W.

AU - Scarlatti, Francesco

AU - Shorten, George

AU - Salter, Kathleen A.

AU - Stinson, Jennifer N.

AU - Vowels, Kevin E.

AU - Walker, Suellen M.

AU - Yalcin, Ipek

AU - Roche, Michelle

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Recommendations for the inclusion and study of sex and gender in research

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