The process of integrating the ideas and direct quotations from your research sources into your own writing and ideas is called synthesis. You want to avoid simply quoting or summarizing your sources and instead, put them in conversation with one another as well as with your own ideas. Do the sources share common understanding of your topic? Or do they differ in subtle but significant ways? How does each perspective influence your own understanding or opinion of a topic?
Check out the guides below for some techniques for successfully synthesizing sources.