[Meta-analysis and its synonyms]

The purpose of meta-interpretive literature reviews is to combine the individual findings of different studies into a single, coherent analysis (here: meta-studies). The positions on how to handle that differ enormously. This is reflected in the variety of terms and definitions for synonym circumstances, e.g. "meta-analysis", "systematic review", "narrative review", "meta-syntheses". Also ambiguous is why in some cases the systematic is highlighted due to prefix the term "systematic", in others not. This article is part of a master thesis at the Institute of Nursing Science (University Witten/Herdecke, Germany). The aim of this article is to constitute the different opinions and put the terms in order. Illustrative examples of the synonymously used terms will therefore be identified and embedded in the underlying philosophies. It is assumed that the different positions result from the underlying philosophies. Further on there is evidence that "narrative" often wrongly is interpreted as the opposite to "systematic". The article concludes with options of how to put the terms in order.