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DHARA is an online index of articles on Ayurveda published in research journals worldwide. Users Online: 222
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Journal of Ayurveda and Integrative medicine 2012 Apr ; 3 (2) :97-101
DHARA: Digital Helpline for Ayurveda Research Articles.

Abstract
INTRODUCTION DHARA is the acronym for Digital Helpline for Ayurveda Research Articles. It is the first comprehensive online indexing service exclusively for research articles published in the field of Ayurveda. DHARA is accessible online at www.dharaonline.org. With an evolutionary history that spans several thousands of years, Ayurveda is one of the oldest and meticulously codified systems of health care in the world. However, in modern times, the Ayurvedic community has lagged behind in the task of projecting Ayurveda as an evidence-based system with adequate research support to vouchsafe its therapeutic claims of safety and efficacy. For this reason, Ayurveda has not been able to position itself in an advantageous manner in spite of the growing interest and prevalence of Complementary and Alternative Medicine world over. Ayurveda faces constraints and hurdles from regulatory authorities and the scientific community that come in the way of its global acceptance. Researchers find it very difficult to access reliable data to lend authenticity to Ayurveda. Hardy et al[1] laments about the difficulties in searching for research papers in Ayurveda and after painstaking efforts manage to publish a systematic review on Ayurvedic interventions in Diabetes mellitus. Narahari et al[2] have discussed the difficulties encountered in systematic literature search in Ayurveda and also suggest approaches that can yield better results. Other authors have also discussed the difficulties in conducting literature search in Ayurveda.[3,4] A lot of research that happens in Ayurveda languish in the form of unpublished theses submissions or dissertations. Most of what gets published remain inaccessible because they are published in journals in regional languages or other India journals that are not indexed in international databases, such as PubMed. DHARA is the first systematic and comprehensive initiative to fill this gap. At this point of time, DHARA has indexed research articles on Ayurveda that have been published in more than 4100 journals worldwide. The total number of indexed articles exceed 52,000. Care has been taken to exclude publications that would not qualify as research journals, such as magazines and souvenirs. However, research journals which have not disclosed their editorial policies in the field of Ayurveda have also been included due to paucity of research publications dealing exclusively with Ayurveda. These journals also publish high-quality articles occasionally.

DHARA ID: D053405 Pubmed ID: 22707867


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