 The concept of oxidative stress in redox biology and medicine was introduced in 1985 and has grown to include over 138,000 PubMed entries by 2015. While the term has its benefits, such as linking redox shifts to phosphorylation slash defosphorylation signaling, it can also be misused if the underlying molecular details are not fully understood. Antioxidant enzymes play a major role in antioxidant defense, while small molecule antioxidant compounds have a lesser role. The field of oxidative stress research encompasses multiple disciplines, including chemistry, biochemistry, cell biology, physiology and pathophysiology, medicine, and health and disease research. This article was authored by Helmetzies.