Literature Review Basics

Banner

Resources and guidance for synthesizing and presenting research in general literature reviews, systematic reviews, etc.

Need help?

Profile Photo

Laura Bernhardt Schedule an Appointment Contact: Zoom ID: 742-597-2521 Office phone: 812-465-1638

Synthesis: What is it?

First, let's be perfectly clear about what synthesizing your research isn't:

When you synthesize your research, your job is to help your reader understand the current state of the conversation on your topic, relative to your research question. That may include doing the following:

Essentially, you're telling your reader where they are (and where you are) in the scholarly conversation about your project.

Synthesis: How do I do it?

Synthesis, step by step

This is what you need to do before you write your review.

  1. Identify and clearly describe your research question (you may find the Formulating PICOT Questions table at the Additional Resources tab helpful).
  2. Collect sources relevant to your research question.
  3. Organize and describe the sources you've found -- your job is to identify what types of sources you've collected (reviews, clinical trials, etc.), identify their purpose (what are they measuring, testing, or trying to discover?), determine the level of evidence they represent (see the Levels of Evidence table at the Additional Resources tab), and briefly explain their major findings. Use a Research Table to document this step.
  4. Study the information you've put in your Research Table and examine your collected sources, looking for similarities and differences. Pay particular attention to populations, methods (especially relative to levels of evidence), and findings.
  5. Analyze what you learn in (4) using a tool like a Synthesis Table. Your goal is to identify relevant themes, trends, gaps, and issues in the research. Your literature review will collect the results of this analysis and explain them in relation to your research question.

Analysis tips