PluriMed – Journal of Medical Pluralism is an open-access, peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated to the critical study of medical pluralism, healing practices, and health knowledge systems across diverse cultural, historical, and political contexts. Published by the Highland Institute, PluriMed provides a rigorous, interdisciplinary platform for scholars, practitioners, and independent researchers to engage with the coexistence, entanglement, and contestation of multiple medical traditions in a rapidly transforming global landscape.

Rooted in medical anthropology, history of medicine, public health, and the environmental and medical humanities, PluriMed highlights the ways in which Indigenous, local, and alternative health systems negotiate legitimacy, authority, and adaptation within state and global health infrastructures. It is particularly committed to showcasing scholarship that foregrounds the Global South, postcolonial health ecologies, and knowledge systems often marginalized by biomedical dominance.

Focus and Scope

PluriMed publishes theoretical, ethnographic, and historically informed research on topics including but not limited to:

• Medical pluralism and hybridity – How different therapeutic traditions interact, co-exist, or compete in various cultural and institutional settings.
• Climate change and health ecologies – The impact of environmental transformations on healing practices and disease landscapes.
• Indigenous and non-state health systems – How healing traditions outside biomedical frameworks persist, adapt, and resist within contemporary health regimes.
• Contested therapeutics – The politics of alternative medicine, epistemic justice, and the marginalization or resurgence of traditional healing.
• Speculative medicine – Emerging or neglected health concerns, including mycological pathologies, microbial ecologies, and novel disease ontologies.
• State interventions and biolegitimacy – The governance of medical pluralism through state policy, development programs, and healthcare regulation.
• Pharmaceutical and bioprospecting industries – The commodification and scientific reconfiguration of traditional medicines.
• Histories of medicine and healing – Colonial and postcolonial encounters in medical practice and their enduring legacies.

We welcome original research articles, theoretical essays, methodological reflections, book reviews, and special issue proposals. PluriMed encourages work that challenges disciplinary boundaries, experiments with speculative or collaborative methodologies, and critically interrogates what constitutes medical knowledge in different sociopolitical contexts.

Workshops, Conferences, and Networks

In addition to peer-reviewed research, PluriMed serves as a living archive for the field of medical pluralism. This includes publishing workshop programmes, paper titles, and abstracts (clearly marked as non-peer-reviewed), as well as conference reports, project updates, and collective statements.

Our inaugural collection features the Entangled Medical Futures workshop (University of Edinburgh, 8–10 October 2025), bringing together scholars and practitioners from Nepal, Bhutan, India, United States, and the UK. These abstracts are made available with the permission of contributors and are intended to strengthen dialogue and visibility for the emerging field. Inclusion here does not preclude later publication in journals, edited volumes, or other modalities.

By reviving the older tradition of journals as spaces for both proceedings and scholarship, PluriMed acts as a commons for medical pluralism - an open space where ideas, debates, and practices can be documented and shared as they unfold.

Open Access and Copyright Policy

As an open-access journal, PluriMed is committed to making scholarship freely available to researchers, practitioners, and communities worldwide. All articles are published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license, allowing for broad dissemination and reuse while ensuring author attribution.

Authors retain full copyright of their work and are encouraged to share their articles in institutional repositories, public archives, or personal websites to maximize accessibility and engagement.

Peer Review and Editorial Standards

Submissions to PluriMed undergo a double-anonymous peer review process, ensuring a rigorous and fair evaluation by experts in the field. We are committed to inclusive citation practices, recognizing and amplifying diverse voices, particularly from underrepresented regions and knowledge traditions.

Archiving and Digital Preservation

PluriMed ensures long-term accessibility and safeguarding against loss or removal. Additionally, all articles are assigned a DOI via Zenodo, providing a stable and citable digital record.

Editorial and Institutional Support

PluriMed is published by Highlander Press, which in-turn is housed at the Highland Institute, an independent research center dedicated to interdisciplinary scholarship in anthropology, history, environmental and medical humanities. The journal is supported by an international editorial board, comprising scholars from medical anthropology, history of medicine, global health, and indigenous studies.

History of the Journal

Founded in 2025, PluriMed emerged from the Highland Institute’s long-standing commitment to critical health research in Highland Asia, the Global South, and Indigenous medical traditions. From its launch during the Entangled Medical Futures conference in Edinburgh, the journal was designed not only as a venue for peer-reviewed scholarship but also as a living archive of the field itself. By publishing workshop programmes, conference reports, paper abstracts, and project notes alongside full articles, PluriMed documents the evolving intellectual life of medical pluralism.

This hybrid model reflects our commitment to keeping knowledge accessible, citable, and in dialogue with ongoing events, networks, and collaborations. In doing so, PluriMed aims to serve as a commons for medical pluralism—an open space where ideas, debates, and practices can be documented and shared as they unfold.

Privacy Statement

PluriMed adheres to strict privacy standards. Author and reviewer information is handled securely and will not be shared with third parties without explicit consent.