A synthesis matrix is a working table that lets you compare studies side by side, so patterns and gaps become visible. Used well, it is the step between a pile of articles and a literature section that argues something. This guide covers the columns, the reading, and the writing.
Summaries treat each article as a separate story. Synthesis asks what the articles say together: where they agree, where they conflict, and what none of them has tested. A matrix forces that comparison because every source is described in the same terms, in the same columns. Patterns that are invisible across thirty separate pages become obvious in one grid.
The matrix is a tool for you, not usually a graded product. Some programs ask for a condensed version in an appendix. Even then, the value lies in the prose you write from it.
Start with a small set and add only what you will actually compare. Typical columns for a graduate nursing project:
| Column | What to record |
|---|---|
| Citation | Author, year, and a short label you can reuse in prose |
| Design and level | For example randomized trial, cohort, qualitative, guideline, plus a level of evidence rating from your program's chosen system |
| Sample and setting | Who, how many, where |
| Intervention or exposure | What was done, how often, by whom |
| Outcomes and measures | What was measured, with which tool |
| Key findings | Direction and size of effect, in your own words |
| Limitations and quality | Bias risks, attrition, generalizability |
| Relevance | How it bears on your question and setting |
Quality appraisal should use a recognized tool suited to the design, such as one from the JBI or CASP families or AGREE II for guidelines. Ask your chair which one your program prefers. If your work is a formal review, the systematic review help page explains the added reporting requirements.
As you fill each row, note the same things every time, in short phrases, and mark the numbers you may want to quote. Then read down each column instead of across each row. Ask: do most studies use the same outcome measure? Are the samples mostly one setting or age group? Does effect size shrink as study quality rises? Those vertical observations become your themes. Add a column for a tentative theme label and revise the labels as patterns emerge.
Organize the section by theme, not by source. Each paragraph should make a claim, cite the studies that support or contest it, and comment on their strength. A dependable paragraph pattern is claim, evidence, qualifier, then a link to your project question.
Use citation groups in the text as APA 7 requires, and prefer paraphrase to long quotation. Details are on the APA in-text citation page. Close each theme with a sentence about what remains unknown, and close the section by stating the gap your project answers.
Share your topic, search results and rubric. The ProNursingScholars team can help you organize the matrix and draft the synthesis. Details stay confidential.
Fictional topic: nurse-led telephone follow-up after hospital discharge. The studies and results are invented for illustration.
| Weak (source by source) | Strong (synthesis) |
|---|---|
| Adams (2021) studied follow-up calls and found fewer readmissions. Baker (2022) also studied calls and found readmissions were lower. Chen (2020) looked at nurse calls in another hospital and found no difference. | Follow-up calls were associated with fewer 30-day readmissions in two of three studies (Adams, 2021; Baker, 2022), both of which called within 72 hours. The study with no effect (Chen, 2020) delivered a first call after a week and enrolled a lower-risk sample, which suggests timing and patient risk may matter more than the call itself. No study evaluated calls in rural settings, the population of interest here. |
The strong version compares, explains a conflict, and ends on a gap. The weak version reports three separate findings and leaves the reader to do the thinking.
It depends on the project and program. A focused DNP project may synthesize a small, well-chosen set. A review or dissertation will use many more. Follow your handbook and your chair.
CINAHL and PubMed are common starting points for nursing topics; the National Library of Medicine maintains PubMed and MeSH terms. A health sciences librarian can help refine the strategy.
Yes. Leaving them out biases the synthesis, and committees look for exactly that.
Yes. A spreadsheet or reference manager with custom fields is fine. Keep one master version and back it up.