There are many different types of reviews of the literature you can undertake, however reviews can be divided into two main types, literature reviews (also known as narrative reviews) and systematic reviews.

Which one you choose can depend on course requirements, time frames, how many reviewers you have to work with, and the level of comprehensiveness you need to achieve.

Advice on the type of review that is right for you, and the steps involved in the process, should come from your supervisor or course tutor, if you are a student.

The main differences between a literature review and a systematic review are outlined below.

Literature review

• a literature review is a general research topic review, which can be undertaken in all subject areas
• more than one database is searched, using a search strategy
• there is usually no defined methodological approach
• information is collected and interpreted unsystematically with subjective summaries of findings
• authors aim to describe and discuss the literature from a qualitative analysis
• literature reviews are usually undertaken by topic experts (academics, students about to begin Honours, Masters, PhD.) and findings cannot be reproduced independently as conclusions may be subjective

Systematic review 

• a systematic review is a review of the literature, usually in the medical and allied health subject areas, conducted in a methodical manner based on a pre-defined protocol
• the identified literature is systematically reviewed using specific inclusion and exclusion criteria
• the resultant list of articles plus the results of primary research studies are appraised with the aim of synthesising the retrieved information often by means of a meta-analysis
• systematic reviews aim to summarise the best available evidence on a particular research topic

'What's In a Name: The Difference Between a Systematic Review and a Literature Review and Why it Matters' by Lynne Kysh, licensed under CC-BY.  An accessible version of this table is an extract from the original work. https://figshare.com/articles/poster/Difference_between_a_systematic_review_and_a_literature_review/766364?file=1145525