GAF researchers must possess a minimum qualification of a Master’s degree in Life Sciences, MD (or MBBS), DVM, or a PhD degree. Success in this role requires a genuine interest or background in Andrology (reproductive biology or medicine) and a passion for research.

Please refer to the following page for a detailed list of the roles and responsibilities in GAF:
http://tinyurl.com/GAF-researcher-code-of-conduct

An average of 4-6 hours a week is usually required to fulfil the research activities during the study period. However, there are times when there may be no activity while at other times one needs to meet the goals set by the team leader

You will only need a computer and a reliable internet connection. You will also need a device running the WhatsApp messaging application, which is the primary communication platform among GAF members.

Being part of research teams offers numerous benefits.

Expectations by GAF: Work and act as a professional to fulfill the responsibilities of an active researcher.
A detailed description of duties can be found HERE.
Benefits for the researcher:

1. Receive the GAF Virtual Interactive “Training in Research Methodology for Conducting Systematic Review and Meta-Analytical Research” in Male Infertility and Male Sexual Health at no charge.
During this course, you will receive timely feedback from highly experienced trainers to all your questions and concerns, steering you to successfully completing this essential training.

2. Opportunity to join a research team and participate in a real research project under the guidance of highly experienced research leaders.

3. Become part of an international group of accomplished clinical academics and researchers, conducting advanced research on cutting-edge topics in a virtual setting, without the need of any equipment, facility, or investment, all from the comfort of your home.

4. The opportunity to work in a group setting in a collaborative and nurturing environment.

5. Be part of and learn to work in a professional team under the guidance of expert team leader and co-leaders who will assure a high-quality work, good and prompt communication, respect among colleagues, and to meet mutually agreed deadlines.

6. Opportunity to expand your professional network and learn from some of the most accomplished and well-known experts in the field of Andrology.

7. Opportunity to establish personal connection with the members of your team belonging to different countries from around the world.

8. Opportunity to gain authorship in prestigious publications and research outputs (meeting abstracts, conference presentations, etc.), pending serious and consistent contribution.

9. Finally, the opportunity to belong to one of the only organizations in the world offering a unique learning and nurturing environment for anyone with basic qualifications to learn the complexities of advanced research in Andrology, without distinction of prior research experience, race, religion or country of origin.

The appointment of team leaders is not limited to clinicians such as urologists or andrologists; it extends to any active researcher displaying the skills, ambition, and qualities necessary to lead a research team.

This inclusive approach ensures that individuals with diverse research backgrounds and expertise can assume leadership roles based on their capabilities rather than specific clinical designations.

Active researchers with a Master’s degree in Life Sciences can take on the role of co-leader. However, an MD (or MBBS), DVM, or a PhD degree is a minimum requirement to be considered as a team leader.

All candidates with a minimum qualification of a Master’s degree in Life Sciences, MD (or MBBS), DVM, or a PhD degree with interest or background in Andrology, reproductive biology or reproductive medicine, and a passion for research can become a member of GAF.

Only GAF members can join research teams. Apply for GAF membership (https://forms.gle/L2Pp4HNrn728ZxDDA).

When your membership has been approved, you should sign up (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdaSk05jqSnc9cBTe6Lo7qQmIg2FdKhVDwQus8dbbqdDKWFBA/viewform?pli=1) and complete the GAF "Training on systematic review and meta-analysis methodology" course. This course serves as a prerequisite, equipping you with the necessary skills.

Upon successful completion of the course, you will have the opportunity to join a research group, providing a pathway for active involvement in ongoing research initiatives.

As part of a team you will:

- Carry out literature reviews to collect eligible articles.

- Screen the title and abstract of each record retrieved to determine whether it should be included or excluded (based on the eligibility criteria).

- Review the full article of the included records to determine whether they match eligibility criteria and study outcomes.

- Evaluate the Quality of Evidence (QoE) in the included articles.

- Extract and record the essential data of interest from the included articles for statistical analysis.

- Participate in preparation of the final manuscript, including the introduction, Materials and Methods, interpretation of results, comparative discussion of results, SWOT analysis, etc.

Regardless of being a volunteer, all members, including those in virtual research teams, are expected to adhere to a code of conduct. This code of conduct sets the standards for professional behavior, ethics, and interactions within the organization.
You can read about the GAF code of conduct here:
http://tinyurl.com/GAF-researcher-code-of-conducts-and-responsibilities

Yes, all members joining the training or appointed to a research team must sign an agreement.

The agreement clarifies the distinction between a voluntary (unpaid) and employment-based (paid) relationship, and the underlying rationale behind the appointment to a certain position. This is critical to ensure that GAF members understand their responsibilities, expectations and required commitments involved in their voluntary membership.
The research conducted at GAF is “group-based” where any progress greatly depends on adherence to the responsibilities (spelled out in the agreement) and timely submission of tasks by all members.

Here are some key points to explain our approach:

Voluntary Relationship:
Being a volunteer does not mean there are no expectations or responsibilities. Volunteers contribute their time and skills willingly, driven by their interest in the field. While not compensated monetarily, GAF volunteers benefit by exclusive opportunities to participate in: research training, advanced research studies, various scientific writing opportunities and publications. Creating these opportunities requires immense amount of our time and resources and therefore it is natural that GAFs offer is clearly understood.

Professionalism:
Volunteers are seen as professionals in their respective fields.
Professionalism includes meeting commitments, good communication, maintaining a high standard of work, and respecting the guidelines set by the team leaders or Management.

Appointment Agreement:
• The agreement signed by the members outlines their roles, responsibilities, and the commitment expected from them.
• This agreement is in place to ensure that everyone is on the same page regarding the expectations and standards.
Termination of appointment:
• Like any professional setting, failure to fulfill commitments can result in the removal of a member from their appointed position.
• This is not a punitive measure but rather a way to maintain the integrity and effectiveness of the research teams.

Equal Working Conditions:
• The lenient set of working conditions applies to all members, regardless of whether they are volunteers or employees.
• The focus is on fostering a collaborative and respectful environment for everyone involved.

Commitment to the Mission:
Your involvement contributes to the GAF's mission and goals.

Management: Yes, there are many opportunities. Few are listed below:

❖ Advanced Online Research: Receive training in research methodology and participate in various systematic reviews and meta-analysis.
❖ Online Global Surveys: Participate in various ongoing surveys or propose a new one.
❖ Webinars: Attend customized webinars developed by GAF on topics that are most important for our members.
❖ Course Faculty: Participate as a faculty in GAF directed workshop or masterclass.
❖ Reviewer: Participate as reviewer of scientific articles authored by GAF researchers and earn authorship for your work

Management: Reviewing scientific articles is a valuable service to the GAF research community. By becoming a reviewer, you can help to ensure that the highest quality research is published.

We look for these attributes in a member interested in becoming a reviewer:

❖ Expertise in the field of research. The reviewer should have a strong understanding of the research methods and findings in the field, as well as the ability to critically evaluate the quality of the research.
❖ Publication experience. The reviewer should have published their own research in peerreviewed journals, as this demonstrates their ability to write clearly and concisely, and to follow the conventions of scientific writing.
❖ Time commitment. Reviewing articles can be a time-consuming process, so the reviewer should be able to commit to providing a timely and thorough review.
❖ Constructive Feedback: An effective reviewer provides clear and constructive feedback to help authors improve their work. This includes identifying strengths, weaknesses, and offering suggestions for enhancing the manuscript.
❖ Impartiality and Objectivity: Reviewers must approach each manuscript with an open mind, free from any bias or conflict of interest. They should evaluate the work objectively, focusing on its scientific merits rather than personal opinions or affiliations.
❖ Writing Skills: Clear and well-articulated communication is necessary when composing the review report. The reviewer should provide feedback in a professional and courteous manner.
❖ Confidentiality. The reviewer should be able to keep the contents of the manuscript confidential until it is published.
❖ Attention to Detail: Reviewers are expected to thoroughly examine the manuscript for methodological soundness, logical consistency, and compliance with ethical guidelines. Identifying potential flaws in experimental design or data analysis is essential.


GAF management does not guarantee authorship to any reviewer. Serious individuals who can commit to “good reviewing practice” will be considered for co-authorship while others offering superficial feedback are generally acknowledged.

Management: Let us start with a meta-analysis (or MA). A meta-analysis is a statistical technique used to combine and analyze the results from multiple independent studies on a particular topic or research question. The primary aim of a meta-analysis is to provide a quantitative synthesis of the findings across studies, yielding a more robust and precise estimate of the overall effect size or outcome of interest than any individual study could provide.

Here's a breakdown of how meta-analysis works:

Collecting Studies: The first step in conducting a meta-analysis is to identify and gather all relevant studies that have investigated the same or similar research question or topic. These studies are known as primary studies or individual studies.
Effect Size Calculation: In each primary study, an effect size is calculated to represent the magnitude and direction of the intervention's or exposure's impact on the outcome of interest. The effect size could be a standardized mean difference, correlation coefficient, odds ratio, risk ratio, or any other relevant measure.
Weighting Studies: Each primary study's effect size is then weighted according to its sample size or other factors, such as study quality or precision. Studies with larger sample sizes or greater reliability are given more weight in the meta-analysis, as they are considered to contribute more information.
Combining Effect Sizes: The weighted effect sizes from all the primary studies are combined using statistical methods. The most common method is the weighted average, where the effect sizes are summed, and the sum is divided by the total weight.
Assessing Heterogeneity: One critical aspect of a meta-analysis is assessing and quantifying the heterogeneity among the primary studies. Heterogeneity refers to the variation in effect sizes across studies beyond what might be expected due to chance. High heterogeneity may indicate differences in study designs, populations, interventions, or other factors that can influence the results.

Publication Bias: Meta-analysts also examine publication bias, which occurs when studies with statistically significant or positive results are more likely to be published than studies with nonsignificant or negative results. Publication bias can affect the overall estimate of the effect size.
Meta-Regression and Subgroup Analysis: In some cases, the statistician may perform meta-regression or subgroup analyses to explore potential sources of heterogeneity or to examine how specific factors influence the effect size.
Interpreting Results: The final output of a meta-analysis is the overall effect size estimate, along with confidence intervals that indicate the level of uncertainty around the estimate. Researchers interpret these results to draw conclusions about the strength and direction of the effect across all the included studies.

“Meta-analysis is a powerful tool in evidence-based research, as it allows researchers to synthesize and draw more reliable conclusions from a collection of studies than any single study could achieve alone. It is widely used in fields such as medicine, psychology, education, and social sciences, among others”.

Management: A good question, the foundation of Andrology specifically (both male infertility and male sexual disease) is generally accepted as weak due to a lack of robust basic science research as well as the lack of large scale RCTs or other highquality studies/ clinical trials. The absence of such studies and accompanying evidence
weakens the science and has a cascading effect of weakening the diagnosis, treatment, and management of various andrological diseases or pathologies such as: varicocele, NOA, idiopathic, high SDF or various treatments for MSD, such as: regenerative therapies, TRT, etc.


Professional societies depend on high quality scientific evidence to formulate practice guidelines and provide their recommendations to clinicians engaged in the care of infertile couples. Meta-analysis is a preferred statistical method that combines data from multiple studies to provide a more precise and powerful estimate of the overall effect size or relationship between variables. It enhances generalizability, identifies sources of heterogeneity, settles controversies, and detects small effects that individual studies may miss. By reconciling conflicting findings and assessing publication bias, meta-analysis contributes to evidence-based decision-making and enhances research efficiency. It is a valuable tool for evidence synthesis, guiding policy, practice, and advancing knowledge across various fields of study.

Here are few more things to learn about the meta-analysis:
❖ Increased Statistical Power: Meta-analysis combines data from multiple studies, leading to larger sample sizes and increased statistical power. This allows for more precise and reliable estimation of the effect size or outcome of interest, particularly when individual studies might have small sample sizes and limited statistical significance.
❖ Enhanced Precisio: By pooling data from multiple studies, meta-analysis can provide a more precise estimate of the true effect size or relationship between variables. This increased precision helps researchers gain a clearer understanding of the overall impact of an intervention or exposure.
❖ Generalizability: Meta-analysis can provide a more comprehensive view of the topic under investigation by including studies from diverse populations, settings, and study designs. This enhances the generalizability of the findings to a broader population.
❖ Consistency and Reproducibility: Meta-analysis helps to evaluate the consistency of findings across different studies. If the results are consistent and reproducible, it strengthens the evidence supporting a particular intervention, treatment, or relationship.
❖ Detection of Small Effects: Some interventions or treatments may have small effects that are difficult to detect in individual studies. Meta-analysis can aggregate these small effects across studies, making them easier to identify and understand.
❖ Identifying Sources of Heterogeneity: Heterogeneity refers to the variability in effect sizes across studies. Meta-analysis helps researchers explore potential sources of heterogeneity, such as differences in study design, population characteristics, or intervention protocols. Identifying sources of heterogeneity can
provide valuable insights and guide future research.
❖ Settling Controversies and Contradictory Findings: In fields where, individual studies may produce conflicting or contradictory results, meta-analysis can help reconcile these discrepancies and provide a more comprehensive picture of the evidence.

Management: Answer in the next edition of FAQ.