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An open court of pale stone between two plain concrete walls, the sea and sky beyond. Three pale shade sails cross overhead on steel masts; where all three overlap the fabric is citrine yellow, and a citrine patch of shade lies on the floor beneath.

search strings and a synthesis grid

Literature review matrix

Build your search. Then map what you have read.

Try the matrix
What the film shows, in words
  1. What will you search for, and what have you read?
  2. Three concepts. Thirteen terms.
  3. OR widens a sheet. AND keeps only what all share.
  4. A fourth concept: a narrower search.
  5. What you have read, by theme. Solid when the finding is in your words. 2 sources have no finding in your words.
  6. You search. You read. You write.

The demo: the worked example, one row at a time

ExampleA review on mobile money and small traders; the sources listed are fictional examples, not real publications.

Three concepts, thirteen terms, one shared strip.

Each sheet is as wide as its terms: 4 + 4 + 5 = 13. Only the strip under all three is the search. In it: 3 sources logged, 2 themes, every mark hollow.

Step 1 of 4

The strip shows how the search is built, not how many sources it will find.
Boolean stringOR inside a bracket, AND between brackets. One bracket for each sheet.

("mobile money" OR "mobile payments" OR "digital financial services" OR e-money) AND ("small traders" OR micro-enterprises OR "informal traders" OR "market vendors") AND ("West Africa" OR Ghana OR Nigeria OR Senegal OR "Côte d’Ivoire")

3
concepts
3
sources logged
2
themes
  • 3 sources have no finding in your words.Summarising in your own words is where the review is really written.
  • Replace the example sources with sources you have actually read.
  • No citations are generated here.The researcher writes every word. This tool gives questions, structure and checks, not assessed text.

Now your own question, and your own reading.

Concepts first, then only sources you have read. Nothing here writes for you.

Your search

Name each concept and its synonyms. A sheet is as wide as its terms, and the string is built from them as you type.

Concepts and synonyms

  1. 01
  2. 02
  3. 03
  1. 13
  2. 2

The strip under all of them: the search

The strip shows how the search is built, not how many sources it will find.

Boolean stringOR inside a bracket, AND between brackets. One bracket for each sheet.

("mobile money" OR "mobile payments" OR "digital financial services" OR e-money) AND ("small traders" OR micro-enterprises OR "informal traders" OR "market vendors") AND ("West Africa" OR Ghana OR Nigeria OR Senegal OR "Côte d’Ivoire")

Where you will search

What you have read

Only sources you have read. Give each a theme, and write its finding in your own words: its mark turns solid.

  1. Cost and fees
  2. Trust
3
concepts
3
sources logged
2
themes

logged, no finding in your words yetfinding written in your wordsReplace the example sources with sources you have actually read.

Synthesis log

  1. 01
  2. 02
  3. 03

Your matrix, in words

Live
3concepts
3sources logged
2themes

Search strings

Review question

What shapes small traders’ use of mobile money in West Africa?

Boolean string

("mobile money" OR "mobile payments" OR "digital financial services" OR e-money) AND ("small traders" OR micro-enterprises OR "informal traders" OR "market vendors") AND ("West Africa" OR Ghana OR Nigeria OR Senegal OR "Côte d’Ivoire")

Databases

  • Scopus
  • African Journals Online
  • Google Scholar

Record for each search

  • Database, date, exact string, filters, number of results.
  • Keep this log; it makes your method reproducible.
Synthesis matrix
ThemeSourcesMethods
Cost and fees[Source 1 you have read]; [Source 3 you have read]Survey, Panel data
Trust[Source 2 you have read]Interviews

Your outline skeleton (you write each section)

  1. 01
    Introduction: the question and why it matters
  2. 02
    Theme: Cost and fees2 sources
  3. 03
    Theme: Trust1 sources
  4. 04
    Gaps and how your study addresses them

Checks

  • Check: 3 sources have no finding in your words.Summarising in your own words is where the review is really written.
  • Note: Replace the example sources with sources you have actually read.
  • Note: No citations are generated here.The researcher writes every word. This tool gives questions, structure and checks, not assessed text.
Your editable templateSearch and synthesis matrixTry this form

Practice 11: Research supervision, academic coaching & publication supportFree · instant results on this pageTool owner: Prof. Wisdom Gagakuma and Michael GagakumaVersion 1.0 ·

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Search and synthesis matrix

Your organisation

ThemeSourcesMethods
Cost and fees[Source 1 you have read]; [Source 3 you have read]Survey, Panel data
Trust[Source 2 you have read]Interviews

3 sources · 2 themesYour own outline. No written review text.

The matrix as it stands in the tool above. It changes as you log what you read.

Your editable template

Search and synthesis matrix, by email once delivery is connected.

Search and synthesis matrix (spreadsheet) with your own outline; no written review text

Preview only. No email will be sent. Your results are available above.

Nothing you enter here is sent anywhere. Privacy notice

· a free brief, or book the Professor · from USD 150
The stone court floor crossed by overlapping shadows, lighter where one falls and deeper where two do, with a strip of citrine light where they all cross; the sea beyond the rail.
A sail can be wider. Only the strip under all three counts.

How it works, and its limits.

The rules are published so you can check them. The picture follows the first one and nothing else.

  1. 01

    Each concept and its synonyms are joined with OR; concepts are joined with AND. Phrases are quoted.

  2. 02

    Sources are grouped by the theme you give them; methods are listed per theme.

  3. 03

    The outline follows your themes; the writing is yours.

What it cannot tell you

  • Database syntax varies; adapt the string to each database’s rules.
  • It never generates or suggests citations.
  • A matrix organises reading; it does not replace it.
  • Quality ruleNo invented citations or assessed prose.

11 Research supervision, academic coaching & publication support

You search. You read. You write.

The matrix organises your reading. When you want a person beside the work, these are services: coaching and feedback only, and the student writes every word.

Tell us what you need A brief is free to send.
Service · 11 Research supervision, academic coaching & publication supportThesis & dissertation coaching: the student writesService · 11 Research supervision, academic coaching & publication supportResearch methods & statistics support

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