In the synthesis step of a literature review, researchers analyze and integrate information from selected sources to identify patterns and themes. This involves critically evaluating findings, recognizing commonalities, and constructing a cohesive narrative that contributes to the understanding of the research topic.
Synthesis | Not synthesis |
---|---|
✔️ Analyzing and integrating information | ❌ Simply summarizing individual studies or articles |
✔️ Identifying patterns and themes | ❌ Listing facts without interpretation |
✔️ Critically evaluating findings | ❌ Copy-pasting content from sources |
✔️ Constructing a cohesive narrative | ❌ Providing personal opinions |
✔️ Recognizing commonalities | ❌ Focusing only on isolated details |
✔️ Generating new perspectives | ❌ Repeating information verbatim |
Here are some examples of how to approach synthesizing the literature:
💡 By themes or concepts
🕘 Historically or chronologically
📊 By methodology
These organizational approaches can also be used when writing your review. It can be beneficial to begin organizing your references by these approaches in your citation manager by using folders, groups, or collections.
A synthesis matrix allows you to visually organize your literature.
Topic: ______________________________________________
Source #1 | Source #2 | Source #3 | Source #4 | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Main idea A | ||||
Main idea B |
⬇️
Topic: Chemical exposure to workers in nail salons
Smith 2000 | Gutierrez et al. 2015 | Hansen 2018 | Lee et al. 2014 | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Acrylate exposure and asthma | "Participants reported multiple episodes of asthma over one year" (p. 58) | etc... | ||
Formaldehyde exposure and contact dermatitis | "Nail salon workers who did not wear gloves routinely reported increased episodes of contact dermatitis" (p. 115) |