Turns many sources into a decision-ready synthesis - atomic claims clustered into named themes, surfaced tensions between sources, gaps no source answers, and explicit so-what/now-what implications with confidence ratings. Use when someone says "synthesize this research", "what do all these reports agree on", "pull the themes out of these articles", or has a pile of sources and needs conclusions rather than source-by-source summaries. Do NOT use for synthesizing user interview transcripts - use interview-synthesis instead; for a formal academic literature review, use literature-review.
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---
name: Research Synthesis
description: Turns many sources into a decision-ready synthesis - atomic claims clustered into named themes, surfaced tensions between sources, gaps no source answers, and explicit so-what/now-what implications with confidence ratings. Use when someone says "synthesize this research", "what do all these reports agree on", "pull the themes out of these articles", or has a pile of sources and needs conclusions rather than source-by-source summaries. Do NOT use for synthesizing user interview transcripts - use interview-synthesis instead; for a formal academic literature review, use literature-review.
---
# Research Synthesis
Synthesis is not summary. A summary repeats what each source said; a synthesis finds
the patterns *across* sources and says what it means. This skill turns 20+ sources into
a decision-ready document.
## Step 1: Capture, don't just read
As you go through each source, extract atomic notes (one idea per note):
```
Source: <author, title, date>
Claim: <a single finding or argument, in your own words>
Evidence: <what backs it - data, study, anecdote>
Confidence: <strong / moderate / weak>
```
Keep claims atomic so you can later regroup them across sources. Tag each with a topic.
## Step 2: Cluster into themes… install to load the full skill