Skip to Main Content

Nursing: Ph.D & Research

Summary and Synthesis

Basic Summary and Synthesis Paragraph Ex.

1. Topic sentence of paragraph:  Synthesis statement

  (followed by….)

 2. Summary of article 2 (with citation and attribution)

  (followed by …)

3. Summary of article 3 (with citation and attribution)

  (followed by …)

4. “However,”   Summary of article 1 (with citation only)

5. Wrap-up/transition sentence.

Style Resources

Scientific Writing

Rules for Scientific Writing 

  • Interest, inform, and persuade the reader 
  • Write for your reader and write clearly  
  • Eliminate unnecessary redundancy
  • Avoid digressions
  • Don't over explain and avoid overstatement
  • Avoid unnecessary qualifiers
  • Use consistent tenses
  • Use the precise word
  • Simpler words are preferred over complex words and use concrete words and examples
  • Simpler sentences are preferred over more complicated sentences
  • Use the active voice (except generally in methods)
  • Make sure the subject and verb agree • Use affirmative rather than negative constructions
  • Avoid use of the indefinite "this"
  • Use transitions
  • Cite sources as well as findings
  • Proofread your paper carefully; spell check does not catch everything; "there" is spelled correctly but not if you meant "their" 

Books on Writing

The books below have 2 ways to  access- In state of SC uses the link; Out of state, hover the i and find the Worldcat resource.