4.5. The Author Nationality and Ethical Review
In this study, we found that 63.7% of the studies were accomplished by the cooperation of more than two countries. The international cooperation improved the study level and quality control in some degree. To get more international recognition and perfecting research, the acupuncture-neuroimaging studies need more international cooperation. Furthermore, ethics has got growing attention by the researchers. The interests of the participants should be taken in the first place. The ethics was an essential component which should be considered during the whole acupuncture-neuroimaging studies.
In conclusion, to improve the reproducibility and reliability of the acupuncture-neuroimaging studies, more attention should be paid to the quality control including sample size, participants screening, and acupuncture manipulations in future studies. A practical and standard quality control criterion should be developed to improve the acupuncture-neuroimaging studies.