📚 Research & Academic Writing Tools
Hi everyone! I’m Twinkle Francis, a Student Ambassador for the Master of Public Health (MPH) at City St George’s, University of London. Throughout my MPH journey, I’ve had to balance heavy reading loads, data analysis, policy evaluation, and dissertation planning, all while trying to stay organised and sane!
Based on my own experience and what I’ve seen other students rely on, I’ve put together some of the most useful study tools that really help MPH students stay on top of the course. These are the tools I consistently recommend to new students because they genuinely made my workload easier to manage.
Zotero
Essential for managing the huge amount of academic papers in an MPH. It automatically saves citations, organises PDFs, and creates reference lists for essays, policy reports, and your dissertation. Most students find it becomes their most-used tool by Week 2.
Notion
Great for keeping all modules, readings, deadlines, and group projects in one organised place. Many MPH students build a dashboard to track weekly tasks and reading lists, which helps massively once multiple assignments overlap.
Obsidian
Useful for connecting concepts across public health topics. Linking ideas like social determinants, policy frameworks, and intervention models helps make sense of the theory-heavy modules and becomes especially helpful during dissertation planning.
Research Rabbit
A lifesaver when starting literature reviews. It visually maps related academic papers so you can quickly build a solid reading list for assignments or your dissertation without endless searching.
SPSS / RStudio
Used heavily in epidemiology and quantitative research modules. SPSS is more beginner-friendly, while RStudio is more advanced and widely used in professional public health roles. Getting comfortable early makes data-heavy assessments far smoother.
Forest / Focus To-Do
Helpful for managing long reading sessions and keeping concentration during dense public health literature. Many MPH students use Pomodoro timers to avoid burnout and break big study sessions into manageable blocks.
NICE Guidelines / WHO Resources
Essential for evidence-based assignments. These provide real-world policies, intervention examples, and frameworks that strengthen essays and reports without relying on general web searches.
NVivo
Useful if your dissertation involves qualitative methods like interviews or focus groups. It helps you organise themes, code transcripts, and produce clean qualitative analysis without drowning in text documents.
Using the right tools can make a huge difference to your productivity and confidence throughout the MPH. Wishing you all the best as you navigate the course!
Based on my own experience and what I’ve seen other students rely on, I’ve put together some of the most useful study tools that really help MPH students stay on top of the course. These are the tools I consistently recommend to new students because they genuinely made my workload easier to manage.
Zotero
Essential for managing the huge amount of academic papers in an MPH. It automatically saves citations, organises PDFs, and creates reference lists for essays, policy reports, and your dissertation. Most students find it becomes their most-used tool by Week 2.
Notion
Great for keeping all modules, readings, deadlines, and group projects in one organised place. Many MPH students build a dashboard to track weekly tasks and reading lists, which helps massively once multiple assignments overlap.
Obsidian
Useful for connecting concepts across public health topics. Linking ideas like social determinants, policy frameworks, and intervention models helps make sense of the theory-heavy modules and becomes especially helpful during dissertation planning.
Research Rabbit
A lifesaver when starting literature reviews. It visually maps related academic papers so you can quickly build a solid reading list for assignments or your dissertation without endless searching.
SPSS / RStudio
Used heavily in epidemiology and quantitative research modules. SPSS is more beginner-friendly, while RStudio is more advanced and widely used in professional public health roles. Getting comfortable early makes data-heavy assessments far smoother.
Forest / Focus To-Do
Helpful for managing long reading sessions and keeping concentration during dense public health literature. Many MPH students use Pomodoro timers to avoid burnout and break big study sessions into manageable blocks.
NICE Guidelines / WHO Resources
Essential for evidence-based assignments. These provide real-world policies, intervention examples, and frameworks that strengthen essays and reports without relying on general web searches.
NVivo
Useful if your dissertation involves qualitative methods like interviews or focus groups. It helps you organise themes, code transcripts, and produce clean qualitative analysis without drowning in text documents.
Using the right tools can make a huge difference to your productivity and confidence throughout the MPH. Wishing you all the best as you navigate the course!
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