- Journal of Alternative Medicine and Mind Body Practices
- Open access · CC BY 4.0
Aims and Scope
The Journal of Alternative Medicine and Mind Body Practices publishes research that evaluates the safety, effects, mechanisms and use of traditional medical systems, herbal and natural products, mind-body practices, manual therapies and integrative care.
What the journal sets out to do
- To publish rigorous research on the safety, effects, mechanisms and use of complementary, traditional and mind-body approaches to health.
- To bring current research methods, including clinical trials, mechanistic and laboratory studies, qualitative research and health-services research, to the study of these approaches.
- To report evidence that informs clinical practice, patient choice and health policy, including how these approaches are used alongside conventional care.
- To make this research openly available, so that researchers, clinicians, practitioners and educators can read and reuse it freely.
Research areas
JAMMBP considers research on any complementary, traditional or mind-body approach to health, framed as research that evaluates its safety, effects, mechanisms and use. The areas below are illustrative and form part of a wider field, including:
- Traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture
- Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and other traditional medical systems
- Naturopathy and traditional healing practices
- Herbal and botanical medicine
- Pharmacology, phytochemistry and safety of natural products
- Nutritional, dietary and lifestyle approaches
- Meditation and mindfulness-based interventions
- Yoga, breathwork and pranayama
- Tai chi, qigong and other movement practices
- Hypnosis, biofeedback and relaxation techniques
- Psychological and psychotherapeutic approaches that use mind-body methods
- Massage, acupressure, osteopathic and chiropractic care
- Music, art and other expressive therapies
- Neurophysiological, stress and immune mechanisms of mind-body practice
- Integrative care in clinical settings, including integrative oncology
- Adverse events and interactions with conventional treatment
- Use, access, cost and regulation of complementary care
- Public health and health-services research on complementary approaches
Contributions from the clinical, pharmacological, laboratory, social, behavioral and data sciences are welcome when they address the safety, effects, mechanisms or use of these approaches. A topic that is not named above is within scope when it meets that test.
Designs and approaches welcomed
JAMMBP considers quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods research. Study designs are reported within the article types listed below; clinical trials and mechanistic, qualitative and practice-based studies, for example, are submitted as Original Research.
- Clinical trials
- Randomized and non-randomized trials, pragmatic and cluster designs, pilot and feasibility studies, and trial protocols.
- Mechanistic studies
- Laboratory, pharmacological, physiological and neuroimaging studies of how an intervention or practice acts.
- Observational studies
- Cohort, case-control and cross-sectional studies, including analyses of registries and routinely collected health data.
- Qualitative and mixed methods
- Interview, focus-group, ethnographic and participatory research, alone or combined with quantitative data.
- Practice-based research
- Studies of care as delivered in clinics and communities, including audits, registries and outcome studies.
- Evaluation and health services
- Evaluations of programs, services and policies, including implementation research and economic evaluation.
- Evidence synthesis
- Systematic reviews, meta-analyses and other reviews of the literature.
- Methodological research
- New, adapted or validated methods for measurement, analysis and evaluation in this field.
What makes a manuscript a fit
Manuscripts are assessed for relevance to the journal's remit, the soundness of their methods and whether their conclusions are proportionate to the evidence. Single-setting and early-stage studies are considered when they report their methods and limitations clearly.
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Case reports and case series
Case Reports, including case series, are accepted when they are relevant to the journal's remit and evidence-based, for example a well-documented response, an adverse event or an unusual presentation that carries a lesson for practice.
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Commentaries and perspectives
Commentaries and Perspectives are accepted when they make a reasoned argument, supported by evidence and cited sources, on a question in the field or on work published in JAMMBP.
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Theoretical and conceptual papers
Theoretical and conceptual papers are accepted when they are grounded in the published evidence and advance understanding of how an approach works or how it should be studied.
Claims that are not supported by evidence, and the promotion of commercial products or services, are outside the journal's scope.
Article types
The journal publishes the article types below. Guidance on the structure, abstract and reporting standard for each type is given in the Instructions for Authors.
- Original ResearchEmpirical studies using quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods, including clinical trials and mechanistic, qualitative and practice-based studies.
- Systematic Review and Meta-AnalysisSystematic syntheses of evidence on a defined question, with or without meta-analysis.
- ReviewNarrative, scoping and other reviews that survey and critically appraise a body of literature.
- Methods or ProtocolNew, adapted or validated methods, and protocols for planned studies.
- Short CommunicationConcise reports of a focused or preliminary finding.
- Case ReportIndividual cases or case series relevant to the journal's remit.
- Commentary or PerspectiveEvidence-based argument on a current question in the field or on published research.
- LetterBrief responses to articles published in JAMMBP, or short observations of relevance to the field.
Where a manuscript sits between types, authors choose the closest type and explain the choice in the cover letter, and the editors confirm the classification. A case series is classified as a Case Report, a scoping review as a Review, and a study protocol as Methods or Protocol.
Scope questions
Is my topic within scope?
A manuscript is within scope when it evaluates the safety, effects, mechanisms or use of a complementary, traditional or mind-body approach, whatever its discipline or setting. If you are unsure, send the title and abstract to the editorial office at info@openaccesspub.org before submitting.
Does JAMMBP consider studies of a single practice or local tradition?
Yes. Studies from any setting are considered. Authors of single-setting studies explain how their findings relate to other populations, practitioners or settings.
Are laboratory studies of natural products within scope?
They are considered when they address the safety, effects or mechanisms of a product or practice used in health care, with the material identified and prepared as described in the Instructions for Authors.
Can I submit work that has been posted as a preprint?
Yes. Posting a preprint is compatible with submission to JAMMBP. Cite the preprint and its DOI in the cover letter.
Preparing a submission
Read the Instructions for Authors and the Editorial Policies before submitting.