Where to start a critical literature review - critical reading

Critical writing starts with reading, so it is important to develop critical reading skills to be able to critically engage with the different resources and develop your interpretation of these sources.

A review of literature is something personal. Hence, you need to show that you are making conscious decisions about selecting texts for your review, interpreting and engaging critically with them, ordering and synthesising what was found and subsequently writing the final account of what you did.

When writing a literature review, you are required to demonstrate your competence in critical reading of literature. But what does it mean to be critical as a reader of literature?

Being critical in academic enquiry means:

• Bringing your own values, histories, experiences and intentions
• Persistently reviewing evidence
• Examining accuracy, flaws, assumptions, etc.
• Looking ahead: what are the implications?

The value of your study is derived from how it fits with/expands on previous work.