Table 2.

Comparison of Charak Samhita online with traditional formats.

Sr. No.	Parameters	Traditional format	Charak Samhita Online Edition
1.	Accessibility	The print editions are accessible only to book buyers limited to specific regions of trade.	Accessible to all users anywhere in the globe.
2.	Cost effectiveness	The users have to purchase the books. It is additional economic burden to the students particularly in developing countries like India and Asian countries.	Open access make it free to all users without any economic burden.
3.	Updates and additions of research	Updates are not possible in print books unless they are published in new editions. Again, this is a costly and time-consuming effort for publishers.	Easy updates are possible in wiki-based software used in Charak Samhita New Edition.
4.	Searchability	Readers have to search the concepts manually across Charak Samhita. The time is a major concern for searching and collecting data.	Quick and easy search is possible in few seconds to get all references on the topic. Monograph section provides comprehensive information, too.
5.	Interlinking, addition of graphics and multimedia files	Not possible in print form.	Cross-referencing, interlinking, and addition of multi-media files for a better understanding of the concept is always possible.
6.	Multi-lingual translation	It can be published in only one language at a time.	The online edition can be read in multiple languages using translation tools.
7.	Limitation of words and presentation	There is always a limit of words and pages in print form. This may limit the scope of authors' messages in print form.	The electronic form allows to presentation of all information in a comprehensive way.
8.	Number of authors involved	All available translations are written either by a single author or two authors. This limits the views of presentations and experience in the translation.	The online edition involved more than 180 contributors to present their views. Thus, it included experiences and views of various eminent scholars.
8.	Communication with authors	It is difficult to communicate with authors directly.	It is easy to communicate with each author in online edition.
9.	Post publication citation analysis	The analysis of citations of print books and its chapters is difficult.	As each chapter has assigned DOI, it is easy to analyse citations of each chapter. These are useful in observing impact of the publication.
10.	User-friendliness	It is difficult to carry and use the print books in online education platforms.	It is very easy to carry and use the digital edition in online education platforms.