#5: Synthesis
This is where you make sense of your information and present it.
Have you taken thoughtful notes? Does each note card have a useful heading at the top, as well as an indication of the source of that information? You should be able to use those headings now to come up with an outline of your report. The outline will show the major points you want to make, along with the kinds of supporting details you will use. Another approach is to use a graphic organizer such as Inspiration, but you must show a logical connection among ideas for this to work, and, again, the main ideas should match the headings on your note cards.
Make the process work for you: notes lead to... outline, which leads to... research paper
To keep yourself focused, put your thesis or controlling question on top of your outline. As with your notes, you should use keywords and phrases, not complete sentences.