Research Resources
We recommend the following Web sites to anyone who wants to explore the field of acupuncture and Oriental medicine research. Please visit our Recommended Reading page for additional information.
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM)
NCCAM is one of the 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It is dedicated to exploring complementary and alternative healing practices in the context of rigorous science, training complementary and alternative medicine researchers, and disseminating authoritative information to the public and professionals.
Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) Database
NCCAM and the National Library of Medicine (NLM) have partnered to create CAM on PubMed, a subset of NLM's PubMed. PubMed provides access to citations from the MEDLINE database and additional life science journals. It also includes links to many full-text articles at journal Web sites and other related Web resources.
Acubriefs: Acupuncture Research Updates and Database
Acubriefs was established by a grant from the Medical Acupuncture Research Foundation. It is now supported through advertisers and grants from the Best of Both Worlds Foundation. Its purpose is to make available online the most comprehensive database of references on acupuncture in the English language. References on acupuncture in languages other than English will be incorporated contingent on time and resources.
CRISP
CRISP (Computer Retrieval of Information on Scientific Projects) is a searchable database of federally funded biomedical research projects conducted at universities, hospitals, and other research institutions. The database, maintained by the Office of Extramural Research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), includes projects funded by the NIH and numerous other federal agencies. Users, including the public, can access the CRISP interface to search for scientific concepts, emerging trends and techniques, or identify specific projects and/or investigators. This website can be searched, for example, to find all current federally-funded research in acupuncture and other modalities of traditional East Asian medicine.
Society for Acupuncture Research (SAR)
The mission of SAR is to promote scientifically sound inquiries into the clinical efficacy, physiological mechanisms, patterns of use, and theoretical foundations of acupuncture, herbal therapy and other modalities of traditional East Asian medicine. SAR organizes an annual research conference and welcomes individual affiliates including researchers, educators, students, acupuncturists, healthcare practitioners, and members of the public.
Cochrane Collaboration: International and independent organization, dedicated to making up-to-date, accurate information about the effects of healthcare with the dissemination of systematic reviews.
PubMed: The National Library of Medicine's complementary medicine database on Medline.
Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT): An important research tool (checklist) that takes an evidence-based approach to improve the quality of reports of randomized trials.
STandards for Reporting Interventions in Controlled Trials of Acupuncture
(STRICTA): Crafted to modify a single item on the 22-item CONSORT list -- referring to description of interventions -- which was considered too generic to be of value for improving reporting of acupuncture trials.
Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases: Comprehensive list of the chemical composition of common herbs.
Herbmed: Electronic herbal database, which provides hyperlinked access to the scientific data underlying the use of herbs for health. It is an impartial, evidence-based information resource provided by the nonprofit Alternative Medicine Foundation, Inc.
Qigong Institute: A not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting Qigong through research and education. Database provides the only record in English of the vast amount of research on Qigong from China as well from other countries.
NCCAM is one of the 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It is dedicated to exploring complementary and alternative healing practices in the context of rigorous science, training complementary and alternative medicine researchers, and disseminating authoritative information to the public and professionals.
Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) Database
NCCAM and the National Library of Medicine (NLM) have partnered to create CAM on PubMed, a subset of NLM's PubMed. PubMed provides access to citations from the MEDLINE database and additional life science journals. It also includes links to many full-text articles at journal Web sites and other related Web resources.
Acubriefs: Acupuncture Research Updates and Database
Acubriefs was established by a grant from the Medical Acupuncture Research Foundation. It is now supported through advertisers and grants from the Best of Both Worlds Foundation. Its purpose is to make available online the most comprehensive database of references on acupuncture in the English language. References on acupuncture in languages other than English will be incorporated contingent on time and resources.
CRISP
CRISP (Computer Retrieval of Information on Scientific Projects) is a searchable database of federally funded biomedical research projects conducted at universities, hospitals, and other research institutions. The database, maintained by the Office of Extramural Research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), includes projects funded by the NIH and numerous other federal agencies. Users, including the public, can access the CRISP interface to search for scientific concepts, emerging trends and techniques, or identify specific projects and/or investigators. This website can be searched, for example, to find all current federally-funded research in acupuncture and other modalities of traditional East Asian medicine.
Society for Acupuncture Research (SAR)
The mission of SAR is to promote scientifically sound inquiries into the clinical efficacy, physiological mechanisms, patterns of use, and theoretical foundations of acupuncture, herbal therapy and other modalities of traditional East Asian medicine. SAR organizes an annual research conference and welcomes individual affiliates including researchers, educators, students, acupuncturists, healthcare practitioners, and members of the public.
Cochrane Collaboration: International and independent organization, dedicated to making up-to-date, accurate information about the effects of healthcare with the dissemination of systematic reviews.
PubMed: The National Library of Medicine's complementary medicine database on Medline.
Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT): An important research tool (checklist) that takes an evidence-based approach to improve the quality of reports of randomized trials.
STandards for Reporting Interventions in Controlled Trials of Acupuncture
(STRICTA): Crafted to modify a single item on the 22-item CONSORT list -- referring to description of interventions -- which was considered too generic to be of value for improving reporting of acupuncture trials.
Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases: Comprehensive list of the chemical composition of common herbs.
Herbmed: Electronic herbal database, which provides hyperlinked access to the scientific data underlying the use of herbs for health. It is an impartial, evidence-based information resource provided by the nonprofit Alternative Medicine Foundation, Inc.
Qigong Institute: A not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting Qigong through research and education. Database provides the only record in English of the vast amount of research on Qigong from China as well from other countries.