Perspectives in ethnopharmacology: forging a closer link between bioscience and traditional empirical knowledge

To what extent do ethnopharmacologists from diverse disciplines share a vision of what ethnopharmacology is and what it might become? This question was explored several years ago through content analysis of the Journal of Ethnopharmacology (JEP), the official journal of the International Society for Ethnopharmacology (ISE). The analysis revealed that although the published articles represent the breadth of natural and social sciences, most studies are themselves not synthetic or interdisciplinary. For the present study, analysis was extended through the most recently published issues of the JEP and compared, for the same time period, to the subject matter of another natural products journal, Pharmaceutical Biology. Whereas research published in the JEP better represents the interdisciplinary objectives of that journal, the difference is not striking. By way of illustration, several studies are reviewed that represent the unique, synthetic perspective that is highlighted in the mission statements of both the JEP and the ISE. The conclusion underscores the lack of clarity in research objectives and suggests that ethnopharmacologists of all backgrounds can enhance their work by projecting pharmacologic data against a backdrop of medical ethnography and by enriching cultural interpretations of medical actions by exploring the physiologic potential of plants.