ArticleJournal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.)2018
What Is the Point? The Problem with Acupuncture Research That No One Wants to Talk About.
Article in Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.), 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
38 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Hot topics and trends in acupuncture for herpes zoster from 2015 to 2025: a bibliometric and knowledge graph analysis.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Acupoint Sensitivity in Health and Disease: A Systematic Review.Journal of integrative and complementary medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Needling Point Location Used in Sham Acupuncture for Chronic Nonspecific Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis.JAMA network open · 2023Pooled it
- Skin Temperature of Acupoints in Health and Disease: A Systematic Review.Journal of integrative and complementary medicine · 2022Pooled it
- From fixed points to probabilistic maps: A spatial framework for acupoint localization.Integrative medicine research · 2026Article
- A new framework for acupoint specificity: Advancing acupuncture studies using the double-dissociation model.Integrative medicine research · 2026Article
- Identification of auricular acupoints using a convolutional neural network.Integrative medicine research · 2026Article
- Naming the unseen: Rethinking the ontology of acupoints.Integrative medicine research · 2025Article
- Acupoints in Acupuncture Research: Past, Present, and Future.Medical acupuncture · 2025Article
- Perspectives in clinical research on acupuncture treatment for central obesity: A perspective.Medicine · 2025Review
- Teaching the Classical Science of Acupuncture in Unity with Modern Biomedicine; Pitfalls and Solutions.Medical acupuncture · 2025Article
- Shared and distinct brain activation patterns of acupoints HT7, ST36, and KI4: a task-based fMRI study.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Article
- Fibroblasts as key cellular targets in acupuncture therapy: a mechanistic perspective.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2025Review
- A deeper understanding of acupoints: Are superficial landmarks enough?Integrative medicine research · 2024Article
- An Unearthed Medical Slip Reveals a Rare Vascular Pathway or Meridian Described 2000 Years Ago.Medical acupuncture · 2024Article
- Using the right design controls for acupuncture trials: Methodological rigor and validity in research.Integrative medicine research · 2024Article
- Stimuli-induced NOergic Molecules and Neuropeptides Mediated Axon Reflexes Contribute to Tracers along Meridian Pathways.Current topics in medicinal chemistry · 2024Review
- Acupuncture, a Promising Therapy for Insulin Resistance and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.International journal of general medicine · 2024Review
- Think out of the box: revisiting sham acupuncture treatment.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Article
- Birth of the Topological Atlas and Repository for Acupoint Research.Journal of integrative and complementary medicine · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Despite having made substantial progress in academic rigor over the past decades, acupuncture research has been the focus of long-standing and persistent attacks by skeptics. One recurring theme of critics is that the concept of acupuncture points has no scientific validity. Meanwhile, the subject of whether-or-not acupuncture points "exist" has been given too little attention within the acupuncture research community. In this article, we argue that failure to use clear terminology and rigorously investigate the subject of acupuncture points has hindered the growing legitimacy of acupuncture as an evidence-based therapy. We propose that a coordinated effort is needed to improve the use of terminology related to acupuncture points, combined with rigorous investigation of their "specificity" and possible biological basis.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.