User:Davidwr/To SYN or not to SYN


 * A much better and more comprehensive essay on what is and is not original research can be found at These are not original research.

The Holy Book says Thou shalt not SYNthesize new information from existing information.

In order to avoid SYN, an editor must know what SYN is. But what does it mean to SYN? Is it always a SYN to combine two well-sourced statements into a third statement that is not sourced in its own right? The answer is no.

Sometimes SYN is obvious. If a New York Times cites a study that says "Peanut Butter can cause a severe allergic reaction" and the London Herald cites another study that says "Food allergies can kill," it would be a SYN to conclude "Peanut allergies can kill." While in fact peanut allergies can kill, these two statements alone cannot be combined to make that statement.

Sometimes what appears to be a SYN is merely a logical combination of facts which prove another fact in an obvious way. This is perfectly okay. For example: You can combine the statements Mercury's orbit extends out to 0.47 AU and Venus's orbit approaches no closer than 0.718 AU to form a new statement "Venus's orbit lies wholly outside of Mercury's orbit" without committing a SYN.

Sometimes a SYN is not so obvious. As another editor pointed out, things like margins of errors can creep in to make seemingly-obvious conclusions potentially incorrect. In the above example, if the measurements of apogee and perigee for Mercury and Venus were known only within 1/4 of an AU, the margins of error would overlap and you cannot make the new statement based on this information alone. You could, however, use a source that provided average distances and say that "the average distance to the sun of Venus is greater than that of Mercury."

Problems related to synthesis also come about when different sources are combined, particularly when 'all of the information cited is not generally accepted as fact. When writing articles about philosophy, religion, novel or other scientific theories which are not widely accepted, newly-released scientific studies that have not been independently confirmed, and controversial issues, or when using source material which is subject to margin-of-error, reliability, or other data-quality problems, be prepared to respond to challenges to things that look like they might be SYNs.

How to avoid SYN

When possible, find a single source for what you want to say. This avoids the issue altogether.

Otherwise, stick to combinations which:
 * Are logically derived from the citations you provide. In other words, if your source material is true, then there is no possibility that your new statement is false.
 * Use source material which is not only from a reliable source but which is generally accepted as factual. Avoid sourcing statements which is only accepted by part of the scientific or other expert community.
 * Use source material which has withstood the test of time. Take care when using newly-published information and avoid it if you can.
 * Avoid combining source material in a way that the new statement isn't obviously derived from the sourced statements. If it takes more than 1 or 2 steps to get from "If A and B are true" to "C must be true" then you shouldn't state C without a clear explanation in the article talk page.  If it takes more than 3 or 4 steps you probably shouldn't say it at all.
 * When dealing with measurements and other quantities, be aware of margins of error and avoid improper combinations. 12 cm +/- 0.5 cm cannot be said to be greater than 11.9 cm +/- 0.05 cm.