Call for papers - Regulation and safety of complementary medicine and therapies

Guest Editors

Tamer Aboushanab, MBBCh, MD, Ministry of Health and Population, Egypt
Chang Gue Son, KMD, PhD, Daejeon University, South Korea
Carolina Oi Lam Ung, PhD, University of Macau, China

Submission Status: Open | Submission Deadline: 17 June 2025

BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies is calling for submissions to our Collection on Regulation and safety of complementary medicine and therapies.

Complementary medicine and therapies can enhance health outcomes by providing a holistic approach to patient care. Growing research has shown that complementary therapies can help manage symptoms and reduce side effects associated with conventional treatment. With a wide array of complementary therapies available, ranging from herbal remedies to acupuncture and mindfulness practices, understanding the regulatory landscape and ensuring safety standards is crucial for both practitioners and consumers.

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Meet the Guest Editors

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Tamer Aboushanab, MBBCh, MD, Ministry of Health and Population, Egypt

Dr Tamer Aboushanab is a physician, and expert in the field of complementary and integrative medicine. He worked for the National Centre of Complementary and Alternative Medicine - Ministry of Health - Saudi Arabia for 5 Years in the field of research, training, and regulation. He also published more than 25 manuscripts in the field of complementary medicine, and one of top world authors in publications in the field of cupping therapy. He also a reviewer and an academic editor for some international journals. Furthermore, he was a speaker or presenter in many international conferences in the field.

Chang Gue Son, KMD, PhD, Daejeon University, South Korea

Dr Chang-Gue Son is a professor at the College of Korean Medicine and the Director of both the Research Center for CFS/ME and the Liver-Immunology Research Center at Daejeon University, South Korea. He completed his clinical training in internal medicine at Daejeon University Hospital and earned his PhD from Daejeon University. From 2002 to 2004, Professor Son worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the NIH in the United States. His current research primarily focuses on ME/CFS and anti-liver metastasis in gastrointestinal cancers, with work spanning both laboratory and clinical studies.

Carolina Oi Lam Ung, PhD, University of Macau, China

Dr Carolina Ung is currently an assistant professor at the Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences and the Department of Public Health and Medicinal Administration at University of Macau. She is also an Honorary Research Fellow in the Sydney School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Australia. Dr Ung ‘s research work mainly falls within the following 4 areas: (1) regulatory science in medical and pharmaceutical products, (2) evidence base about traditional, complementary and integrative medicine, (3) community health and chronic disease management, and (4) social and administrative pharmacy.

About the Collection

BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies is calling for submissions to our Collection on Regulation and safety of complementary medicine and therapies.

Complementary medicine and therapies can enhance health outcomes by providing a holistic approach to patient care. Growing research has shown that complementary therapies can help manage symptoms and reduce side effects associated with conventional treatment. With the growing popularity in the use of complementary medicine, the regulation and safety of complementary medicine and therapies are of paramount importance to ensure the well-being of patients is met and evidence of efficacy of these therapies is established. With a wide array of complementary therapies available, ranging from herbal remedies to acupuncture and mindfulness practices, understanding the regulatory landscape and ensuring safety standards is crucial for both practitioners and consumers.

We welcome contributions on a wide range of topics, including but not limited to:

Analyses of existing regulatory policies and guidelines for complementary practices and products in different countries and regions
Studies investigating the safety profiles, potential risks, and adverse effects associated with various complementary therapies
Research on the standardization, quality assurance, and purity of herbal medicines and nutraceuticals
Studies examining the role of regulatory bodies in protecting consumers from unsafe or ineffective products and practices, as well as studies on consumer awareness and education on the safe use of complementary therapies

Various types of articles are welcome, such as systematic reviews, original research, and well-designed observational or case-control studies.

There are currently no articles in this collection.

Submission Guidelines

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This Collection welcomes submission of original Research Articles. Should you wish to submit a different article type, please read our submission guidelines to confirm that type is accepted by the journal. Articles for this Collection should be submitted via our submission system, Snapp. During the submission process you will be asked whether you are submitting to a Collection, please select "Regulation and safety of complementary medicine and therapies" from the dropdown menu.

Articles will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process and are subject to all of the journal’s standard policies. Articles will be added to the Collection as they are published.

The Editors have no competing interests with the submissions which they handle through the peer review process. The peer review of any submissions for which the Editors have competing interests is handled by another Editorial Board Member who has no competing interests.