Drift waves are a universal phenomenon in magnetized plasmas, playing a dominant role in particle, energy, and momentum transport across magnetic field lines. This review covers the current understanding of drift-wave transport, including laboratory experiments, theoretical models, and large-scale computer simulations. Key topics include the role of density and temperature gradients, trapped particle effects, and the reduction of transport to the gyro-Bohm rate through sheared flows and magnetic shear. The review also discusses the spontaneous generation of mixed wave and vortex turbulence in nonuniform plasmas, the theoretical descriptions such as weak turbulence theory and Kolmogorov anisotropic spectral indices, and standard turbulent diffusivity formulas for various space-time scales. The introduction highlights the importance of drift waves in plasma confinement, emphasizing their impact on transport and the universal instability mechanism driven by spatial gradients in particle distribution functions. The review concludes with a detailed analysis of the conditions for transport and propagation of disturbances, the scaling of diffusivities, and supporting evidence from experimental measurements in tokamaks and other magnetic confinement devices.Drift waves are a universal phenomenon in magnetized plasmas, playing a dominant role in particle, energy, and momentum transport across magnetic field lines. This review covers the current understanding of drift-wave transport, including laboratory experiments, theoretical models, and large-scale computer simulations. Key topics include the role of density and temperature gradients, trapped particle effects, and the reduction of transport to the gyro-Bohm rate through sheared flows and magnetic shear. The review also discusses the spontaneous generation of mixed wave and vortex turbulence in nonuniform plasmas, the theoretical descriptions such as weak turbulence theory and Kolmogorov anisotropic spectral indices, and standard turbulent diffusivity formulas for various space-time scales. The introduction highlights the importance of drift waves in plasma confinement, emphasizing their impact on transport and the universal instability mechanism driven by spatial gradients in particle distribution functions. The review concludes with a detailed analysis of the conditions for transport and propagation of disturbances, the scaling of diffusivities, and supporting evidence from experimental measurements in tokamaks and other magnetic confinement devices.