3.3.14 Presenting the synthesis

When presenting the results of a meta-aggregation, it is crucial to ensure clarity and coherence in communicating the synthesised findings. Most reviews present the synthesis in narrative format, describing the categories and synthesised findings and their underpinning meanings and patterns. In addition to providing a narrative overview, a structured approach incorporating visual aids such as flowcharts or infographics can enhance comprehension. A flowchart or infographic can illustrate the relationship between the synthesised findings, categories and primary study findings. This visual representation helps readers to grasp the overarching themes and how they relate to the individual study findings. The visual representation of the synthesis is a pivotal component of the presentation. However, no matter how the synthesis is displayed, it should be referenced within the review and accompanied by an explanatory narrative.

Clear organisation of categories under each synthesised finding is important, indicating the number of findings within each category and the number of categories comprising each synthesised finding. Additionally, detailed descriptions of the similarities in meaning informing each category and synthesised finding should be provided to enhance understanding. For comprehensive documentation, a full list of extracted findings along with study illustrations for each included study should be appended in an appendix, allowing interested parties to delve deeper into the primary data.