The Journal of Ethnopharmacology is dedicated to the exchange of information and understandings about people's use of plants, fungi, animals, microorganisms and minerals and their biological and pharmacological effects based on the principles established through international conventions. Early people confronted with illness and disease, discovered a wealth of useful therapeutic agents in the plant and animal kingdoms. The empirical knowledge of these medicinal substances and their toxic potential was passed on by oral tradition and sometimes recorded in herbals and other texts on materia medica. Many valuable drugs of today (e.g., atropine, ephedrine, tubocurarine, digoxin, reserpine) came into use through the study of indigenous remedies. Chemists continue to use plant-derived drugs (e.g., morphine, taxol, physostigmine, quinidine, emetine) as prototypes in their attempts to develop more effective and less toxic medicinals. 

In recent years the preservation of local knowledge, the promotion of indigenous medical systems in primary health care, and the conservation of biodiversity have become even more of a concern to all scientists working at the interface of social and natural sciences but especially to ethnopharmacologists. Recognizing the sovereign rights of States over their natural resources, ethnopharmacologists are particularly concerned with local people's rights to further use and develop their autochthonous resources. 

Accordingly, today's ethnopharmacological research embraces the multidisciplinary effort in the: 

• documentation of indigenous medical knowledge,
• scientific study of indigenous medicines in order to contribute in the long-run to improved health care in the regions of study, as well as
• search for pharmacologically unique principles from existing indigenous remedies. 

The Journal of Ethnopharmacology publishes original articles concerned with the observation and experimental investigation of the biological activities of plant and animal substances used in the traditional medicine of past and present cultures. The journal will particularly welcome interdisciplinary papers with an ethnopharmacological, an ethnobotanical or an ethnochemical approach to the study of indigenous drugs. Reports of anthropological and ethnobotanical field studies fall within the journal's scope. Studies involving pharmacological and toxicological mechanisms of action are especially welcome. Clinical studies on efficacy will be considered if contributing to the understanding of specific ethnopharmacological problems. The journal welcomes review articles in the above mentioned fields especially those highlighting the multi-disciplinary nature of ethnopharmacology. Commentaries are by invitation only. 

Original research articles 
Short Communications 
Letters to the Editors
Reviews
Book reviews
Commentaries
Conference announcements and news

Editor-in-Chief
A.M. Viljoen
Tshwane University of Technology Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Private Bag X680, 0001, Pretoria, South Africa Email A.M. Viljoen If you want to suggest a review, please provide a structured abstract and include an annotated table of contents and a short CV of the lead author(s).
Associate Editor
P. Dias Fernandes
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
T. Efferth, PhD
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz Institute of Pharmacy and Biochemistry Therapeutic Life Sciences, Mainz, Germany
L.D. Kong
Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
V. Kuete, PhD
University of Dschang Department of Biochemistry, Dschang, Cameroon
M. Leonti
University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy
G. Lin
Chinese University of Hong Kong School of Biomedical Sciences, Hong Kong, China
P. K. Mukherjee
School of Natural Product Studies, Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India
K. Shaari
University Putra Malaysia, Institute of Bioscience, Selangor, Malaysia
A. Shikov
Group of Scientific Research Institutes, Sankt Peterburg, Russian Federation
M. Ye, PhD
Peking University, Beijing, China
E. Yesilada
Yeditepe University, İstanbul, Turkey
Reviews Editor
M. Heinrich, Ph.D.
University College London School of Pharmacy, 29-39 Brunswick Square, London, WC1N 1AX, United Kingdom
Managing Editor
B. Pomahacova
The Natural Pharmacy, Pijnacker, Netherlands
I. Vermaak
Tshwane University of Technology Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Pretoria, South Africa
M. Sandasi
Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria, South Africa
S. Combrinck
Tshwane University of Technology Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Pretoria, South Africa
Editorial Board
S. Alban
Kiel, Germany
A. Andrade-Cetto, PhD
Mexico City, Mexico
M.J. Balick
Bronx, New York, United States
R. Bauer, Ph.D.
Graz, Austria
G. Bourdy
Cayenne, French Guiana
T. Brendler
Collingswood, New Jersey, United States
J.B. Calixto
Florianópolis, Brazil
D. C. Chattopadhyay, PhD
Indian Council of Medical Research, Kolkata, India
C-T. Che
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
G. A. Cordell
Chicago, Illinois, United States
J. Ding
Shanghai, China
V.M. Dirsch
Vienna, Austria
W. Dou
Shanghai, China
E. Elisabetsky
Porto Alegre, Brazil
J. Fleurentin
Metz, France
B.L. Furman
Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
S. Gafner, PhD
Austin, Texas, United States
G. Ge
Shanghai, China
M.P. Germano
Messina, Italy
J. Gertsch
Bern, Switzerland
A.H. Gilani
Karachi, Pakistan
M.P. Gupta
Panama City, Panama
M. H. Halabalaki, PhD, Msc
Athina, Greece
A. Hensel
Munster, Germany
P.J. Houghton
London, United Kingdom
Z. Ismail
Penang, Malaysia
W. Jia
Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
T. Johns
Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, Canada
C.K. Katiyar, PhD, MD(Ayurveda)
Kolkata, India
G. Kavalali
?stanbul, Turkey
H-S. Kim
Cheongju, Korea, Republic of
J. Kim
Seoul, Korea, Republic of
Y. Kimura
Sendai, Japan
A. K. Kiss, PhD
Warszawa, Poland
M.A. Lacaille-Dubois
Dijon, France
Clara B. S. Lau, PhD
Sha Tin, Hong Kong
S. G. Leitão
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
H Li, PhD
Beijing, China
A. Lu, Phd, MD
Kowloon, Hong Kong
T. M. Makino, PhD
Aichi, Nagoya, Japan
E. Matteucci
Pisa, Italy
I. Merfort
Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
J.J.M. Meyer
Pretoria, South Africa
D.E. Moerman
D.A. Mulholland
Guildford, United Kingdom
M. R. Mustafa, PhD
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
A. Panthong
Chiang Mai, Thailand
B. Patwardhan, PhD
Pune, India
X. Peigen
Beijing, China
A. Pieroni
Pollenzo, Italy
G. Schmeda Hirschmann
Talca, Chile
D.K. Semwal
Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India
R.B. Semwal
Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India
V.S. da Silva Bolzani
Araraquara, Brazil
D.D. Soejarto
Chicago, Illinois, United States
E. Speroni
Bologna, Italy
C. G. L. Veale, PhD
Durban, South Africa
A. J. Vlietinck
Antwerpen, Belgium
H. Wagner
München, Germany
C.S. Weckerle
Zürich, Switzerland
C.W. Wright
Bradford, United Kingdom
R. Yan, PhD
Taipa, Macao
A.T. Yenesew, Phd
Nairobi, Kenya
S. Zacchino
Rosario, Argentina
Zheng
Shanghai, China
Founding Editors
J.G. Bruhn
L. Rivier
Lausanne, Switzerland
Previous Editors-in-Chief
R. Verpoorte
Leiden University Institute of Biology Leiden, Leiden, Netherlands