How to Find a Topic
This page will help you find topics for research papers, speeches, and other class requirements. It can even help you to go beyond common topics; to find unique and fresh takes on current issues. You can find research topics anywhere. You see them every day. Find a topic in a variety of ways: through tools offered in article databases, media headlines, social media feeds, and browsing through the table of contents in books.
For more information, please refer to the How to...Find a Topic Research Guide.
Table of Contents
Bioethics by
Is denying a patient medical care ever justified? Should patents on living organisms be permitted? When does "consciousness" begin in human being? Are there circumstances under which people should be sterilized? Questions such as these and others are the basis of assignments, debate topics, and life and death decisions people face everyday. They are aspects of a broad and dynamic field called Bioethics. Bioethics is the where ethics--right and wrong--intersect with biology, medicine, biotechnology, politics, law, religion and philosophy. It encompasses issues of profound importance to students, faculty and laypersons. Yet balanced, objective information--free from business, political or religious agendas--is hard to come by. The encyclopedia used a basic conceptual framework involving 3 clear steps to explore, understand, and address key issues and questions; these are * Identifying applicable moral principles, ideals, or standards; * Assessing current practice or behavior in light of principles; * And suggesting policies or procedures to bring practice into line with principles. With its initial publication in 1978, Bioethics became the first reference to focus solely on a then burgeoning field, in effect helping to define the discipline. Both the first and second (1995) editions won the Dartmouth Medal, and the set remains the standard reference on bioethics for teachers, students, and those in related fields of health care, philosophy, environmentalism, law, and religious studies. The fourth edition offers hundreds of revisions or addenda to entries from previous editions as well as over 100 new or rewritten entries on topics such as key cases in bioethics, the human biome, genetically modified foods, emergency preparedness and response, social justice, sustainability, chemical warfare and torture, among many others. Revised articles will explain the events as well as legislation changes of the past decade. The work is also being expanded to include views of nations and cultures other than the United States on such issues as abortion, medical triage, social responsibility, access to health care, stem cell research, etc. *In nearly 500 entries averaging 4000 words, key concepts and issues in bioethics are explained. *Many subjects--such as abortion, animal rights, genetic testing--are discussed in terms of various perspectives: religious, ethical, policy/law, etc. *Entries will have bibliographies and cross references to other articles; also included will be tables/charts/graphs, a topical outline, an annotated bibliography, an annotated list of legal cases, an annotated filmography, and an index.
Publication Date: 2014 (eBook)
Degree/Major
You can find a topic within your degree or major. For example, if you are majoring in veterinary technology a topic idea could be animal experimentation/testing or animal rights. If you are majoring in information technology a topic idea could be issues of productivity in the digital age.
Website Topic Lists
Library Databases
- Opposing Viewpoints - All TopicsBrowse the topic listing or choose a category.
- Issues & Controversies - All Issues: A-ZBrowse the issue listing.
- Gale Science in Context - All TopicsBrowse the topic listing or choose a category.
- Today's Science - Topic IndexBrowse the topic index.