The purpose of a literature review is to identify, read and critique previously published research on a topic. Conducting a literature review is a process. You are critiquing the previous research as a whole. The topic may be broad or narrow. For this course, you will be primarily looking for scholarly (or peer-reviewed) articles. But there may be times other sources such as conference papers, books, reports and documents may be needed.
Literature reviews are usually conducted by scholars prior to the start of an academic project. It is important to know what has been previously published so you don't unnecessarily duplicate work that others may have already done. Or you may build on the work that has already been done by others. And it is possible that you may find gaps and errors in previous research.
