Synthesis An integrative literature review is a type of study in which representative literature on a topic is reviewed, critiqued, and synthesized in an integrated manner in order to produce new frameworks and perspectives on the issue. The goal is not to determine whether any one study is accurate or not but to identify patterns across studies that may not be apparent when examining individual articles. Integrative reviews are useful for summarizing large bodies of literature on a subject matter that has not been thoroughly explored before. They provide a comprehensive view of the literature that cannot be achieved by studying single papers in isolation. The main advantage of an integrative review is that it allows the researcher to see relationships between studies that might not be obvious from reading each one separately. Integrative review methodology should not be confused with meta-analysis, which examines the strength of evidence in quantitative research studies. In an integrative review, the aim is not to quantify the results of the included studies but to present a comprehensive picture of the topic.