My professor demands a synthesized literature review for our case study presentation, but I'm unsure how to cite overlapping sources correctly?

Synthesizing literature isn't about listing sources one by one, but rather weaving them together to support your own argument, so you should use multi-source citations whenever several authors agree on a specific point. You aren't double-counting or risking plagiarism as long as you group the references within the same set of parentheses, usually ordered alphabetically and separated by semicolons. Think of it as building a conversation where you act as the moderator; instead of saying Author A said this and Author B said that, you can state that several studies have identified a specific trend, then cite all those authors at once to show the consensus. This approach demonstrates that you’ve done the heavy lifting of comparing the research rather than just summarizing individual papers. Imagine you are writing about the impact of remote work on team productivity. Instead of writing two separate sentences, you could write that recent research consistently highlights a shift in communication patterns during virtual collaboration, followed by a single parenthetical citation containing all three relevant studies. This keeps your narrative flow smooth and shows your professor you understand the bigger picture. To get started, try grouping your sources by theme rather than by author, which will make it much easier to see where the overlap naturally occurs. You might want to draft a quick outline where each paragraph focuses on a specific claim, then go back and plug in your grouped citations to support those claims. Finally, double-check your style guide’s specific rules for ordering multiple citations in a single set of parentheses to ensure you’re following the exact formatting requirements. Mastering this technique will make your writing feel much more professional and authoritative.