Ethnopharmacology at 60: Sixty Years of Ethnopharmacology: From Local Knowledge to Global Recognition

Ethnopharmacology can be traced to the interest in psychoactive and psychedelic substances in the 1960s; the term itself was first used in 1967 by Bo Holmstedt, in the title of a book on hallucinogens (Efron et al., 1967). The interest in local and traditional plants, however, dates back centuries and is found on every continent. As a discipline, ethnopharmacology formalizes the systematic study of how traditional, local, and indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants, fungi, and other natural products informs modern pharmacological research, while also contributing to a wider debate in the socio-cultural sciences (arts and humanities) that can help form a basis for policy development.

The 60th anniversary of the term’s coining offers an opportunity to reflect on these developments, assess the state of the art, and look forward. Today, rigorous, multidisciplinary studies combine phytochemistry, pharmacology, molecular biology, and diverse social sciences. Landmark contributions — from the development of artemisinin to the ongoing search for treatments for metabolic, infectious, and neurodegenerative diseases — trace directly back to knowledge systems documented by ethnopharmacologists.

This Research Topic marks the 60-year milestone of the discipline by offering a platform for a systematic, reflective, and evidence-based assessment of its achievements and prospects. We invite reflection (opinion papers), critical assessment and reviews, and forward-looking analysis. In particular, we aim to assess where the gaps are, where the field has fallen short (reproducibility, bioprospecting ethics, methodological rigor), and where it should go next in an era of genomics, AI-driven natural product discovery, and renewed attention to biocultural rights — and to the obligations of all “users”: industry, academic researchers, and patients/consumers.

Within pharmacology, ethnopharmacology has become one of the largest yet least recognized fields of research, with over 30,000 publications on traditional medicine and ethnopharmacology appearing annually. Calls for best practice have helped improve validity and reproducibility (Front. Pharmacol. 13:953205). This Research Topic to propose standards that strengthen scientific rigor going forward, while foregrounding ethical practice, fair attribution, benefit-sharing, and respect for the communities and knowledge-holders at the field’s origin.

We welcome original research, reviews, perspectives, and opinion pieces addressing:

> Historical analyses of the discipline’s development, key milestones, and main challenges over the past 60 years
> Assessments of the local and regional impact of ethnopharmacological research, including the commercial development of local products, sustainable sourcing, and access and benefit-sharing
> Ethics, equity, and biocultural rights: benefit-sharing, the Nagoya Protocol, indigenous data sovereignty, and decolonizing ethnopharmacological research and development
> Case studies of successful translations from traditional remedy to approved drug or clinical candidate (e.g., artemisinin, galantamine, capsaicin), including methodological evolution from ethnobotanical fieldwork to metabolomics, in silico, and AI/machine-learning-assisted ethnopharmacological research
> Critical reassessment of reproducibility and rigor in ethnopharmacological research (quality of pharmacological assessment, dose translation, study design standards), including the emerging in silico / AI-based tools
> The links and emerging needs between ethnopharmacology (largely basic research), phytotherapy, the practice of traditional medicine, and general healthcare
> Stronger collaborative approaches with fields such as environmental sciences (including climate-change research), public health, and pharmaceutics
> Regional and cultural perspectives: contributions from traditional medicine systems, Asian traditions (Ayurveda, Unani, TCM), African, American, and other indigenous systems, and European (rational) phytotherapy to global pharmacology, and their role in emerging therapeutic frontiers such as antimicrobial resistance, metabolic disease, cancer chemoprevention, and neurological disorders
> Future directions: integration with systems biology, genomics, and computational drug development — charting the next 60 years of the field

All submissions must follow the Four Pillars of Best Practice in Ethnopharmacology and the ConPhyMP statement (Front. Pharmacol., 13:953205), with full descriptions of plant material, extraction, and processing. Manuscripts lacking this information will be desk-rejected. Purely computational or network-only studies without an experimental or ethnobotanical component fall outside the scope. Best-practice guidance: ga-online.org/best-practice.

Ultimately, the collection aims to chart a forward-looking research agenda that connects ethnopharmacology to emerging technologies such as AI and omics and to global health priorities, producing a citable, milestone reference suitable for teaching, policy, and field-wide reflection. This Research Topic will produce a comprehensive, retrospective-and-prospective collection marking 60 years of ethnopharmacology as a scientific discipline, combining historical analysis with cutting-edge case studies to demonstrate the field’s enduring role in drug discovery while candidly addressing its methodological and ethical growing pains.

The resulting article collection will serve as a reference point for researchers, educators, and policymakers, as well as setting a research agenda for the discipline’s next decades, one grounded in rigor, equity, and technological innovation.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Clinical Trial
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Clinical Trial
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Ethnopharmacology, Traditional medicine, Medicinal plants, Natural product drug discovery, Ethnobotany, Phytochemistry, Bioprospecting, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Ayurveda, Network pharmacology, Antimicrobial resistance, Natural compounds

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.