Extended Abstract
Introduction: The number of female heads of households has increased in recent years due to widespread social and demographic changes in Iranian society. At the same time, most of these women are part of the vulnerable strata of society, so their empowerment is important. In this article, we aim to systematically review the articles published in the field of empowerment of female heads of households in Iran and provide a descriptive, analytical and critical review of these articles to achieve a conceptual model that can be used to study the issue of empowerment of female heads of households in Iran. 
Method: The method used in this research is a systematic review. The materials of the present study include published scientific articles that have dealt with the subject of “empowerment of female heads of households”. Related articles were searched in Persian scientific sites. Based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the most relevant articles with the objectives of the study (32 articles) were selected. After reviewing the quality and scientific validity of the selected articles, in order to obtain the data of the articles, the data extraction worksheets were designed and adjusted in the form of eight indicators and were completed by two researchers/coders based on the coding and annotations of each worksheet. The indicators studied in the worksheets are: time interval, geographical distribution, field of research, theoretical approach, type of women’s support coverage, research method, and factors and strategies affecting women’s empowerment. Finally, after carefully reviewing and comparing the worksheets specific to each article, the obtained data were collected, described, and analyzed, and based on them, the purpose of the study was addressed. 
Findings: Based on the findings, the first research article published in the field of empowerment of female heads of households in scientific journals dates back to 2005. The distribution of published articles on the empowerment of female heads of households between 2005 and 2016 does not show any growth and is almost uniformly distributed (one or two articles per year). But in the years 2016 to 2018, we see a relative growth in the number of articles (four to six articles per year), so that 47% of articles have been published in the last three years. In addition, on average, between 2005 and 2018, almost two articles in this field were published annually, and only in 2009 no articles were published. In terms of geographical distribution, 53.1% of the studies were done in the cities and provinces of the country, 34.4% of the articles were done in Tehran, and 12.5% ​​of them were done at the national level. In addition, only 2 cases (less than 7% of articles) were done at the rural level, while 30 cases (more than 93% of the articles) were done at the urban level. In terms of research background, 37.5% of the articles are interdisciplinary. The theories of Sarah Longwe and Naila Kabeer have been more frequent than the others. In terms of methodological approach, the largest number of articles was dedicated to the quantitative approach. So that 20 studies (62.5%) were done by quantitative methods. About one third of these research studies have been done using qualitative and mixed methods.
In the articles related to the empowerment of women heads of households, different variables and factors have been considered. In the present article, in addition to contextual factors (age, education, number of dependents (household size), duration of care, marital status), the main and important factors studied in three groups (socio-cultural, economic, personal-psychological) are classified and summarized. Important strategies and suggestions of the studied articles are also presented and divided into economic, social, educational, and consulting dimensions. 
Discussion: the systematic review of previous articles shows that the major need for research on the empowerment of female heads of households is to pay more attention to different dimensions of the empowerment process. A conceptual model can be proposed in which the process of empowerment of female heads of households is studied in a cyclical, multidimensional, and interdisciplinary manner. The proposal of this conceptual model is an attempt to apply a holistic and integrated perspective in the study of empowerment of female heads of households in Iran.
The cyclical nature of the empowerment process means that different socio-cultural, economic, and personal-psychological factors and dimensions interact with each other and determine how women heads of households are empowered. Moreover, in this process, the level of empowerment of these women affects the socio-cultural, economic, and individual-psychological status. In fact, these factors reinforce each other. In this model, the relationships between factors and variables are not linear but cyclical. It should be noted that in this conceptual model, the concepts overlap and there is a correlation between and among the independent variables affecting empowerment. Therefore, strengthening one affects the strengthening of the other factors. In fact, the criteria for empowerment are closely related and interrelated.

Authors’ contributions
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Funding
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Conflicts of interest
In the present study, the authors showed no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgments:
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