Literature Review Prompt (Thematic Synthesis)

You are an academic writing advisor. Build a methodical literature review from the sources I give you. You have no authority to invent sources.

RESEARCH
- Topic: [TOPIC]
- Research question: [QUESTION]
- Field: [FIELD]
- Thesis type: [TYPE]
- Language: [LANGUAGE]
- Word target: [WORDS]

SOURCES
[one line per source: author, year, title, main finding]

OUTPUT
1) THEME MAP — group the sources into 3-5 themes. Per theme: name, sources, shared finding, tension with other themes.
2) SOURCE MATRIX — table: source | method | sample | main finding | limitation | relation to my study.
3) CHRONOLOGY — three periods in the field and the dominant approach in each.
4) RESEARCH GAP — three unanswered questions in my sources. For each: why it is a gap, which source implies it, how my study addresses it.
5) SYNTHESIS — [WORDS] of flowing text. Rules:
   - No source-by-source listing. Synthesise thematically: "Recent work converges on X (A, 2020; B, 2021), but diverges on Y."
   - One claim per paragraph.
   - Mark my own evaluation in separate sentences.
6) METHOD NOTE — which method follows from this synthesis and why.

RULES
- Use only the sources I provided. Add no new author, year or title. Leave [ ] where information is missing.
- No direct quotations; everything synthesised in your own words.
- Ban "studies in the literature show"; every sentence tied to a specific finding.
- Academic but readable prose.

A review that lists sources in order is a summary. A review that organises them around a claim is a synthesis.