Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability or evidence of effectiveness. Unlike modern medicine, which employs the scientific method to test plausible therapies by way of responsible and ethical clinical trials, producing repeatable evidence of either effect or of no effect, alternative therapies reside outside of mainstream medicine and do not originate from using the scientific method, but instead rely on testimonials, anecdotes, religion, tradition, superstition, belief in supernatural "energies", pseudoscience, errors in reasoning, propaganda, fraud, or other unscientific sources. Frequently used terms for relevant practices are New Age medicine, pseudo-medicine, unorthodox medicine, holistic medicine, fringe medicine, and unconventional medicine, with little distinction from quackery.
Axioms is a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal that focuses on all aspects of mathematics, mathematical logic and mathematical physics. It was established in June 2012 and is published quarterly by MDPI. The editor-in-chief is Humberto Bustince.
Craniosacral therapy (CST) or cranial osteopathy is a form of alternative medicine that uses gentle touch to feel non-existent rhythmic movements of the skull's bones and supposedly adjust the immovable joints of the skull to achieve a therapeutic result. CST is a pseudoscience and its practice has been characterized as quackery. It is based on fundamental misconceptions about the anatomy and physiology of the human skull and is promoted as a cure-all for a variety of health conditions.
Anthroposophic medicine is a form of alternative medicine based on pseudoscientific and occult notions. Devised in the 1920s by Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925) in conjunction with Ita Wegman (1876–1943), anthroposophical medicine draws on Steiner's spiritual philosophy, which he called anthroposophy. Practitioners employ a variety of treatment techniques based upon anthroposophic precepts, including massage, exercise, counselling, and administration of substances.
Edzard Ernst is a retired British-German academic physician and researcher specializing in the study of complementary and alternative medicine. He was Professor of Complementary Medicine at the University of Exeter, the world's first such academic position in complementary and alternative medicine.
Hindawi was a publisher of peer-reviewed, open access, scientific journals active in scientific, technical, and medical (STM) literature. It was founded in 1997 in Cairo, Egypt, and purchased in 2021 for $298 million by John Wiley & Sons, a large US-based publishing company.
Energy medicine is a branch of alternative medicine based on a pseudo-scientific belief that healers can channel "healing energy" into patients and effect positive results. The field is defined by shared beliefs and practices relating to mysticism and esotericism in the wider alternative medicine sphere rather than any sort of unified terminology, leading to terms such as energy healing, vibrational medicine, and similar terms being used synonymously. In most cases, no empirically measurable "energy" is involved: the term refers instead to so-called subtle energy. Practitioners may classify their practice as hands-on, hands-off, or distant wherein the patient and healer are in different locations. Many approaches to energy healing exist: for example, “biofield energy healing”, “spiritual healing”, “contact healing”, “distant healing”, therapeutic touch, Reiki, and Qigong.
The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal that was established in 2004 and is published by MDPI. The editor-in-chief is Paul B. Tchounwou. The journal covers all aspects of environmental health sciences and public health.
The Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics is a medical journal of chiropractic, the alternative medicine practice based in pseudoscientific ideas. It is published by Mosby on behalf of the American Chiropractic Association, of which it is an official journal.
The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal covering alternative medicine published by Mary Ann Liebert. It was established in 1995 and is the official journal of the Society for Acupuncture Research. The editor-in-chief is John Weeks, who succeeded the founding editor, Kim A. Jobst.
Hepatitis Monthly is a monthly peer-reviewed open access medical journal published by Brieflands Publishing, formerly known as Kowsar Publishing. Kowsar was included on Beall's List prior to the list's shutdown in 2017. The journal was established in 2002 by Seyed-Moayed Alavian, who is the journal's editor-in-chief.
Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial is a 2008 book by Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst. The book evaluates the scientific evidence for alternative medicines such as acupuncture, homeopathy, herbal medicine, and chiropractic, and briefly covers 36 other treatments. It finds that the scientific evidence for these alternative treatments is generally lacking. The authors concluded that homeopathy is merely a placebo.
Scientific Reports is a peer-reviewed open-access scientific mega journal published by Nature Portfolio, covering all areas of the natural sciences. The journal was established in 2011. The journal states that their aim is to assess solely the scientific validity of a submitted paper, rather than its perceived importance, significance, or impact.
Harald Walach is a German parapsychologist and advocate of alternative medicine.
Frontiers Media SA is a publisher of peer-reviewed, open access, scientific journals currently active in science, technology, and medicine. It was founded in 2007 by Kamila and Henry Markram. Frontiers is based in Lausanne, Switzerland, with offices in the United Kingdom, Spain, and China. In 2022, Frontiers employed more than 1,400 people, across 14 countries. All Frontiers journals are published under a Creative Commons Attribution License.
Oncotarget is a primarily oncology-focused, peer-reviewed, open access journal. The journal was established in 2010 and is published by Impact Journals. The editors-in-chief are Mikhail Blagosklonny and Andrei V. Gudkov.
Theory & Society is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal covering theoretical analyses of social processes and phenomena. It was established by Alvin Gouldner in 1974. It is published by Springer Science+Business Media and the editors-in-chief are Kevin McCaffree and Jonathan H. Turner. According to the Journal Citation Reports, the journal has a 2022 impact factor of 2.9. The editorial structure of the journal was overhauled by Springer Nature in December 2023.
Aging Cell is a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal and an official journal of the Anatomical Society. It is published on their behalf by John Wiley & Sons. It was established in 2002. Its editor-in-chief is Monty Montano. The journal covers research on all aspects of aging, publishing research articles, reviews, minireviews, and commentaries.
Complementary Therapies in Medicine is a peer-reviewed medical journal covering complementary and alternative medicine, a field often designated as pseudoscience. It was established in 1986 as Complementary Medical Research, obtaining its current name in 1993. Although it was originally published three times per year by Routledge, it is now published eight times per year by Elsevier. The editor-in-chief is Kathi Kemper.
Cureus:Journal of Medical Science is a web-based peer-reviewed open access general medical journal using postpublication peer review. It is also the first academic journal which provides authors with step-by-step templates for them to use to write their papers. The journal's founding editors-in-chief are John R. Adler and Alexander Muacevic.
