What is a critical review of literature?

Whether you are writing the literature review as a stand-alone chapter or as part of your research project, writing a critical review of literature is one of the basic skills that you need to develop during your studies  It is important to be aware of what makes a literature review ‘critical’ as compared to 'descriptive'.

Watch the video below from Leeds University Library in which a number of academics describe what they look for in a literature review. While watching the video, consider the main points referred to by these lecturers:

Based on the points you identified, write down your definition of a well written  literature review.