literature reviews vs systematic reviews

“A systematic review is a review of the literature that is conducted in a methodical manner based on a pre-specified protocol and with the aim of synthesizing the retrieved information often by means of a meta-analysis.”
(Sage Research Methods Online)

• Sutton, A., Clowes, M., Preston, L., & Booth, A. (2019). Meeting the review family: exploring review types and associated information retrieval requirements. Health Information & Libraries Journal , 36 (3), 202-222. https://doi.org/10.1111/hir.12276

A useful update to the 2009 Grant & Booth paper – covers various review methodologies and groups them into review “families”

At its most basic, narrative reviews are most useful for obtaining a broad perspective on a topic and are often more comparable to a textbook chapter including sections on the physiology and/or epidemiology of a topic. When reading and evaluating a narrative review, keep in mind that author’s bias may or may not be present. The labels Narrative Review and Literature Review are often describing the same type of review. For scientific purposes, the term Literature Review is the one used most often. For more information on the Literature Review, click on that link under the Review By Type tab.
The difference between a Systematic Review and a Narrative Review can be summarized as follows:

References:

http://libguides.stir.ac.uk/c.php?g=669514&p=4776533
http://guides.library.uab.edu/c.php?g=63689&p=409774
http://www.cebm.net/2014/06/critical-appraisal/