Literature Reviews
- 5. Synthesize your findings
- Getting started
- Types of reviews
- 1. Define your research question
- 2. Plan your search
- 3. Search the literature
- 4. Organize your results
How to synthesize
Approaches to synthesis.
- 6. Write the review
- Artificial intelligence (AI) tools
- Thompson Writing Studio This link opens in a new window
- Need to write a systematic review? This link opens in a new window
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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.
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.
Create a synthesis matrix
A synthesis matrix allows you to visually organize your literature.
Topic: ______________________________________________
Topic: Chemical exposure to workers in nail salons
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- Last Updated: Mar 21, 2024 11:32 AM
- URL: https://guides.library.duke.edu/lit-reviews
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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.