BC3 Library: Professional Ethics: Bioethics

Databases for Today's Controversial Issues

CQ Researcher
Facts on File Issues and Controversies

CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window
CQ Researcher provides award winning in-depth coverage of the most important issues of the day. The reports are written by experienced journalists, footnoted and professionally fact-checked. Full-length articles include an overview, historical background, chronology, pro/con feature, plus resources for additional research. Graphics, photos and short "sidebar" features round out the reports. Shorter "Hot Topics" articles provide a solid introduction to subjects most in demand by students.

Issues and Controversies This link opens in a new window
Explore current issues and events with in-depth articles made to inspire thought-provoking debates. Topic pages feature the latest related news coverage from Reuters® as well as a variety of helpful background information, from the key pro/con arguments to chronologies of related events to primary documents. Updated weekly.

Suggested Databases for Bioethics/Medical Ethics Information

PubMed This link opens in a new window
PubMed is the premier index to medical literature. It is a free resource developed and maintained by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) at the U.S. National Library of Medicine. PubMed provides free access to MEDLINE, links to full-text articles found in PubMed Central or at publisher websites, and other related resources. PubMed also provides Clinical Queries search filters, and Special Queries pages.

Health Source - Nursing/Academic Edition This link opens in a new window
EBSCOhost's Health Source: Nu8rsing/Academic Edition database provides nearly 550 scholarly full text journals focusing on many medical disciplines. Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition also features the AHFS Consumer Medication Information, which covers 1,300 generic drug patient education sheets with more than 4,700 brand names.

Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection This link opens in a new window
EBSCOhost's Psychology & Behavioral Sciences Collection is a comprehensive database covering information concerning topics in emotional and behavioral characteristics, psychiatry & psychology, mental processes, anthropology, and observational & experimental methods. This is the world's largest full text psychology database offering full text coverage for nearly 400 journals.

MEDLINE This link opens in a new window
MEDLINE provides authoritative medical information on medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, pre-clinical sciences, and much more. Created by the National Library of Medicine, MEDLINE uses MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) indexing with tree, tree hierarchy, subheadings and explosion capabilities to search citations from over 5,400 current biomedical journals.

Newsbank This link opens in a new window
Full text articles from over 800 U.S. newspapers including local newspapers like the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Butler Eagle.

New York Times This link opens in a new window
BC3 students and employees can sign up for free access to the New York Times through Butler County Community College's NYT Academic Pass Subscription.
1. Go to http://www.accessnyt.com
2. Search for Butler County Community College from the list of institutions
3. You MUST use your BC3 email when setting up your NYT account
4. You will need to re-register for the NYT annually

Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new window
Indexes academic, peer reviewed, research journals as well as some popular magazines.

MasterFILE Premier This link opens in a new window
EBSCOhost's MasterFILE Premier database is designed specifically for public libraries. Indexes primarily popular and news magazines.

TED Talk: How CRISPR Lets Us Edit Our DNA

Bioethics/Medical Ethics Websites

AMA Code of Medical Ethics
The AMA Code of Medical Ethics' interactive CME modules offer concrete advice on how physicians should interact with patients and address critical decisions within their practice.
American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics
ASLME is a nonprofit educational organization whose mission is to provide high-quality scholarship, debate, and critical thought for professionals at the intersection of law, medicine, and ethics. Their members examine big health questions with far-reaching social ramifications, like genetic testing and research, medical record privacy, end-of-life decisions, and the dynamics of informed consent.
Bioethics.net
This website is maintained by the editorial staff of The American Journal of Bioethics, the leading journal in the field of bioethics, publishing original contributions that explore domestic and global ethical challenges in health care, medicine, public health, and the life sciences.
Global Health Ethics
The World Health Organization addresses ethical issues in global health by providing guidelines, videos, publications and more about this topic.
The Hastings Center
This nonpartisan research center examines major questions that advances in biomedical technologies pose to society. Their research is carried out by interdisciplinary teams that engage in a rigorous process of analysis, deliberation, framing, and reframing of the key issues at stake. Their publications and public engagement insert human values and the value of bioethics into public conversations, while providing platforms for a range of voices to express themselves and be heard.
The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University: Bioethics
The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics offers programs and resources on ethical issues in end-of-life care, vulnerable patient populations, medically ineffective interventions (futility), culturally competent care, biotechnology, pandemics, and other areas of bioethics.
Office of Human Subjects Research Protections
The Office of Human Subjects Research Protections (OHSRP) carries out the day-to-day operations and regulatory oversight of human research activities within the Human Research Protections Program (HRPP). The OHSRP promotes the protection of rights, safety and welfare of human subjects.
UNESCO: Ethics of Science and Technology and Bioethics
UNESCO builds and reinforces connections between ethicists, scientists, policy-makers, judges, journalists, and civil society to assist Member States in enacting sound and reasoned policies on ethical issues in science and technology.

Bioethics/Medical Ethics Journal Articles

A Case of Mistaken Identity: What Happens When Race is a Factor
This paper aims to explore how dynamics of race, power, and a lack of critical consciousness play an instrumental role in a social work intern’s learning process, clinical efficacy, and adherence to professional ethical standards.
Disability, Ethics, and Health Care in the COVID-19 Pandemic
This article considers key ethical, legal, and medical dilemmas arising for people with disabilities in the COVID-19 pandemic. It explores key concerns and issues affecting health care and the limited applications of emergency planning with and for people with disabilities in the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ethical Issues in Big Data Health Research: Currents in Contemporary Bioethics
The article discusses the moral and bioethical aspects regarding big data health research in the U.S., including in regard to personal autonomy, medical informed consent and privacy.
A Framework for Analyzing the Ethics of Disclosing Genetic Research Findings
Whether researchers have an obligation to disclose secondary genetic research findings, and, if so, in what circumstances, remains a matter of heated debate.
Religion and the Public Ethics of Stem-Cell Research: Attitudes in Europe, Canada and the United States
This study examined international public opinion towards stem-cell research during the period when the issue was at its most contentious, and found that the majority of people in Europe, Canada and the U.S. supported stem-cell research, providing it was tightly regulated, but that there were key differences between the geographical regions in the relative importance of different types of ethical position.

Henrietta Lacks' immortal legacy

Henrietta Lacks was an African-American woman whose cancer cells are the source of the HeLa cell line, the first immortalized human cell line and one of the most important cell lines in medical research.

Articles about Lacks and the ethics surrounding the HeLa cell line:

Nature: "Science must right a historical wrong"

Nature: "Deal done over HeLa cell line"

Embryo Project Encyclopedia: "HeLa Cells 50 Years on: the good, the bad, and the ugly"

NewScientist: "Genetic privacy: we must learn from the story of Henrietta Lacks"

The Wall Street Journal: "Henrietta Lacks and her remarkable cells will finally see some payback"

Bioethics Books

Locating Books in the BC3 Library

The BC3 Library has both print and electronic books about bioethics and related subjects. They are all listed in the BC3 Library Catalog where you will find Dewey call numbers to locate books on the shelves (lower level of the library) and links to connect you to e-books. E-books can also be searched separately in our two e-book collections: e-Book Central by Proquest and e-Book Collection by EBSCO.

Browsing the Stacks

Most books about bioethics are located in the 174 section of the library, near other books related to ethics.

Other books that pertain to bioethics may be found with biology and genetics books, in the 570 area of the shelves.

OER Resources for Bioethics

OER Commons materials in Medical Ethics
Medical Ethics (Open Textbook Library)
Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers
Free e-book from PressBooks that can help you develop your fact checking skills and evaluate sources of information.

Related Guides by the BC3 Library

Hot Topics in Medical Ethics

Abortion
Animal Rights
Death & Dying
Human Cloning & Genetics
Elder Care
Euthanasia & Assisted Suicide
Health Care Reform
Informed Medical Consent
Medical Records
Pain Management
Religious Bioethics

Style Guides and Citation Help

Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL): APA
APA Style Guide and Examples
Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL): MLA
MLA Style Guide and Examples