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Academic English & Research vocabulary · Literature Review

Synthesize

Meaning in academic english & research, with examples

/ˈsɪnθəsaɪz/verbCommon term

In academic english & research, synthesize means: To combine ideas and findings from several sources into a connected whole that shows patterns, agreements and differences, rather than summarizing each source separately.

In Turkish: sentezlemek, bütünleştirmek, bir araya getirmek

How it is used

The skill supervisors most often ask for in a literature review: 'Don't just summarize, synthesize.' The noun is synthesis (plural syntheses), and the British spelling is synthesise.

Example sentences

  1. Try to synthesize the studies by theme instead of describing them one by one.

  2. This review synthesizes findings from 48 studies published between 2000 and 2022.

Common collocations

  • synthesize the literature
  • synthesize findings
  • synthesize sources
  • critically synthesize
  • literature reviewA critical summary of what has already been published on a topic, showing the main ideas, debates and gaps that a new study responds to.
  • paraphraseTo express an author's idea in your own words and sentence structure while keeping the original meaning; the source still needs a citation.
  • theoretical frameworkThe theory or set of connected theories that a study uses to explain its problem, shape its questions and interpret its findings.
  • draw onTo use ideas, knowledge, experience or data from a particular source to support or build your own work.

More terms: Literature Review

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