With all eyes focused on the U.S. healthcare establishment-and major, meaningful reform hanging in the halls of Congress-the natural medicine community is raising its collective voice. Helping to inform discussions among naturopathic physicians, the recently launched International Journal of Naturopathic Medicine (IntJNM) will serve as a powerful resource in elucidating how best to prevent and treat illness while optimizing health through naturopathic means. As a peer-reviewed journal, IntJNM features original research, literature reviews, case reports and editorials encompassing various specialties in the field of natural medicine. In June, the publication’s debut issue was mailed to more than 5000 naturopathic doctors in the U.S., Canada, Great Britain, Australia, Israel and New Zealand. “The mission of the journal is to serve as a benchmark for naturopathic physicians so they can see what type of medicine we can put together on paper and share the goals and successes of naturopathic medicine with the rest of the medical community,” said publisher David Tallman, DC, ND, who has published the monthly natural medicine industry paper “Naturopathic Doctor News & Review” (NDNR) since June 2005. The new journal also serves to publish research conducted at medical colleges worldwide, including the six accredited post-graduate naturopathic medical universities in the U.S. and Canada. The 32-member editorial board consists of current and former presidents of the national naturopathic associations, college faculty chairs, university research department heads and leaders in the naturopathic profession. “The other goal for the journal is to keep it as high integrity as possible,” Dr. Tallman noted. “So the editorial members are all people who are presidents of the associations and elders of the profession who have been around practicing for many years. The continuing goal is to keep that high standard and keep the ethics of the journal as high as possible.” For the first year or two IntJNM will likely be published on a semi-annual basis, with the next issue appearing in November or December, according to Dr. Tallman. But eventually the group would like to publish this journal quarterly. “Part of the mission is also to have the journal ad-free and subscriber owned and operated.” As many Americans struggle with the cost of conventional healthcare, demand for naturopathic medicine remains high, Dr. Tallman said. “In my mind, naturopathic isn’t ‘alternative’ medicine. Naturopathic medicine is really standard, traditional medicine because these therapies have been around for hundreds and even thousands of years. There is a large demand for traditional medicine. We fill a necessary void for patients who otherwise just wouldn’t seek care.” Facilitating communication among physicians worldwide will also serve to educate patients, who “otherwise would just get their vitamin information from a health food store clerk,” he added. Dugald Seely, ND, MSc, director of research and epidemiology at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine (CCNM), serves as the journal’s new editor-in-chief. Diana Buehler, ND, who is the medical editor with NDNR, will serve as associate medical editor with IntJNM. In his editorial that appeared in the inaugural print issue, Dr. Seely wrote: “Taking the lead from its prior incarnation as a web-based journal, IntJNM will continue to publish relevant material for both naturopathic clinicians and researchers. The ultimate goal of IntJNM is to enrich the profession by providing a constructive forum for debate and education. IntJNM seeks to encourage a collectively built, experiential, and evidentiary clinical practice that will both hone and extend our system’s unique, eclectic, and unified medical practice.” “The articles written for IntJNM and submitted for peer-review lie at the heart of any appeal this journal may have,” he continued. “Without quality publications, there is no educational message, no stimulation for new clinical application, and a weak development of our body of knowledge.” Don Warren, ND, DHANP, editorial board member and past president of CCNM and the Council on Naturopathic Medical Education (CNME), echoed Dr. Seely’s sentiments in his guest editorial: “Every profession needs a peer reviewed, professional journal that provides an avenue for the publication of relevant research and clinical information pertinent to that profession. Every profession also needs a forum for lively discussion and debate.” He went on to say that today, “with a growing number of schools and the development of strong research departments it is necessary to have a common publication that we all refer to in order to keep informed. Research has always been the accepted way for new knowledge to be uncovered and ‘old knowledge’ to be tested. Along with the standard research methodology, those involved in research at our colleges and universities are developing new ways to ‘conduct research’ that is relevant to our profession. The International Journal of Naturopathic Medicine will be a mother lode of reliable information for all practicing naturopathic doctors as the outcomes of these studies are published.” So far, Dr. Tallman said the response from the medical community has been positive. Moving forward, ultimately, the editors hope to make the journal a dynamic part of the evolution of naturopathic medicine.