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Michigan State University

MSU Program in Public Health: Writing Help

General guide for resources useful to the MSU Program in Public Health.

Writing Assistance

The MSU Writing Center

The Writing Center in Michigan State University offers consultations at locations on the MSU campus, as well as online. 

They have quick guides on their services here http://writing.msu.edu/resources/quick-guides/

APA Basics

MSU Libraries Guide on APA 7

Concordia University Guide on APA Citation 

 

 

Grammar & Style

Guide to Grammar and Writing (Capital Community College) A great overview of grammar and how to avoid common writing mistakes.

In the social sciences, writers usually use active rather than passive voice. If you majored in a health or natural science for your undergraduate degree, you might have been told to use the passive voice in your scholarly writing, so you'll have to switch when you write papers in public health.

Passive Voice: A mistake was made by the Finance Department.

Active Voice: The Finance Department made a mistake.

You can find further explanations of active/passive voice on these websites:

UW-Madison Writers' Handbook

Your Dictionary

Plagiarism

Below are some resources to help you avoid plagiarism in your writing:

Examples of paraphrasing (MIT)

Plagiarism (UNC-Chapel Hill)

How to paraphrase a source (University of Wisconsin)

Writing Guides

UNC at Chapel Hill has a wide variety of short and concise guides to a range of topics. https://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/

Here is a selection that are specifically useful to the types of writing you may be asked to do in the MPH program.