Bioethics: Web Resources
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In searching the Web you may find research and policy recommendations published by "think tanks," many of which have political/ideological affiliations. An organization called SourceWatch can help you identify such ties and alert you to any political agenda the research was intended to serve.
If you wish to see how your topic is discussed at conservative and liberal think tanks, here are some online sites that discuss a wide range of social--and bioethical--issues.
Conservative:
Liberal:
If you wish to see how your topic is discussed at conservative and liberal think tanks, here are some online sites that discuss a wide range of social--and bioethical--issues.
Conservative:
- National Center for Public Policy Research
- Heritage Foundation
- Cato Institute
- American Conservative Union
- Federalist Society
- Christian Coalition
- Focus on the Family
Liberal:
- Institute for Policy Studies
- People for the American Way
- Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting
- PublicEye: Political Research Associates
- American Civil Liberties Union:
- Amnesty International
- National Gay and Lesbian Tak Force
Bioethics Resources on the Web: From the National Institutes of health (NIH), this is an excellent gateway to bioethics resources. Note the "Specific Topics" button on the left.
bioethics.net: Web site of the American Journal of Bioethics. A good deal of bioethics news and free access to some of the journal content. Also note the "Bioethics Portal" on the bottom right--a topical gateway to online resources.
Intute: Bioethics Web: Intute is an outstanding U.K gateway to authoritative, international Web resources. You can enter a keyword search of the BioethicsWeb or browse the Subject categories on the lower left.
Applied Ethics Resources on World Wide Web: A broad ethics gateway, but with excellent bioethics links under "Health Care Ethics," "Research Ethics," "Science & Technology Ethics," and "Animal Welfare Ethics."
Bioethics Research at The Hastings Center: The Hastings Center is a leading bioethics research institute, offering many linked resources. See "Selected Issues" along the left margin.
Bioethics Forum: This is the journal of the Hastings Center (see above). The "Articles by Subject" link at the top is especially helpful.
Bioethic Topics: From the University of Washington School of Medicine. Good essays on a range of topics, with case-based analysis.
Center for Bioethics: From the University of Minnesota. Look for resources under 'Publications" and "In the Media" on the left. Under "Publications" see "Bioethics Overviews," "Faculty Articles," and "Ethicsmatters Columns."
Public Policy Issues: from Vanderbilt University, offers good links for abortion, animal rights, assisted suicide, cloning and genetics, environment, global warming, health care, prescription drug policy, renewable energy, and stem cell research.
Berman Institute of Bioethics: At Johns Hopkins. The best resources are under the "Media Center" at the top. Look at the articles under "Bioethics Newsletters" and the audio/video presentations under "Multimedia Room." Also note "How to Research Bioethics Literature." Finally take a look at the "Helpful Links" gateway to other online resources.
Bioethics: Bioethics Resources. From the Center for Bioethics at Columbia University, look especially at the links under "Specific Topics."
Ethics Updates: From the University of San Diego. Under "Applied Ethics" there are several bioethics categories, each linking to excellent resources that include articles, case studies, and multi-media presentations.
Public Agenda: A non-partisan organization dedicated to informing citizens about public policy issues and government officials about public opinion. Mouse over "Issue Guides" and "Research Studies" for drop-down menus of topics. "Issue Guides" include Environment, Health Care, Medical Research, and Right to Die.
A Sociological Tour Through Cyberspace: Health Statistics: Gateway of annotated links by Web sociologist extraordinaire, Dr. Michael Kearl.
World Values Survey: Political, social, and cultural data on the values and beliefs of over 80 societies worldwide--including the United States--since 1981. A great site, but it can be a challenge to navigate. To get started try my World Values Survey: User Guide.
Public Agenda: A non-partisan organization dedicated to informing citizens about public policy issues and government officials about public opinion. Mouse over "Issue Guides" and "Research Studies" for drop-down menus of topics. "Issue Guides" include Environment, Health Care, Medical Research, and Right to Die.
A Sociological Tour Through Cyberspace: Health Statistics: Gateway of annotated links by Web sociologist extraordinaire, Dr. Michael Kearl.
World Values Survey: Political, social, and cultural data on the values and beliefs of over 80 societies worldwide--including the United States--since 1981. A great site, but it can be a challenge to navigate. To get started try my World Values Survey: User Guide.
FedStats: The United States government provides the raw data and statistics used in much social science research and public policy debate, so why not sample it yourself. FedStats is a good gateway and the “Topic Links A-Z” is a particularly helpful means of accessing this information.
Web Directories differ from search engines like Google in that all the online resources have been selected and annotated by editors, thereby promising a much higher degree of quality control.
- Open Directory Project: See especially Bioethics and Biotechnology.
Think Tanks & Research Institutes: A short collection of resources that can access these often influential contributions to public policy debate.
Google Advanced Search: When doing research on the Web, always use the Adanced Search version of Google. This not only provides more flexibility in entering search terms, but more importantly it allows you to target the Web domains that are likely to provide the most authoritative information.
Under "Need More Tools?" you will find the "Search within a site or domain" slot. You may enter only one domain at a time, but it's worth targeting each of the three domains likely to supply the best information: colleges and universities (enter the "edu" tag), nonprofit organizations (enter the "org" tag), and the United States government (enter the "gov" tag).
Ask.com: As you type your search, Ask.com may display a selection of searches related to your terms, any of which you may choose. Within retrieval sets there may also be a helpful display of "Related Searches," often including Pro and Con categories for controversial topics. And a new feature called "Ask Q&A;" can connect you to sites that answer specific questions on your topic.
Under "Need More Tools?" you will find the "Search within a site or domain" slot. You may enter only one domain at a time, but it's worth targeting each of the three domains likely to supply the best information: colleges and universities (enter the "edu" tag), nonprofit organizations (enter the "org" tag), and the United States government (enter the "gov" tag).
Ask.com: As you type your search, Ask.com may display a selection of searches related to your terms, any of which you may choose. Within retrieval sets there may also be a helpful display of "Related Searches," often including Pro and Con categories for controversial topics. And a new feature called "Ask Q&A;" can connect you to sites that answer specific questions on your topic.
MLA is the citation style used by most disciplines in the Humanities. The guides below use the most recent 2008/9 standards.
