NURS 516: Evidence-Based Practice 2
Synthesis Paper
A synthesis is a type of literature review in which you weigh the evidence and reach a
single overall conclusion. To do this you must critique each study (source of evidence) that
you are referencing and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of that evidence. Then you
must compare and contrast the evidence across sources (e.g., “Five studies concluded that
this intervention was beneficial. One study did not support this conclusion because _____.
Possible reasons for this discrepancy include ____.”). In your discussion and overall
conclusion, it is important that you address gaps in the literature or any points of
disagreement / discordance in findings across studies, and consider what might be
contributing to those disparities. Remember that this is a synthesis of evidence that you are
considering for application to practice, so definitely include your judgment regarding that
in your discussion.
The paper should be set up in the standard format for a scholarly paper with (at the
minimum) the following sections:
•Introduction (brief, includes problem statement)
•Review of the literature
•Discussion of your findings
•Conclusion
The length of your paper really depends on the topic and the amount of literature that is
available. If your paper becomes long, please reevaluate and see if you could be more
concise in your writing. You should be able to do this in NO MORE THAN 8 PAGES,
not counting a cover page or the reference list. The paper must be in APA format, including
