"Literature reviews are systematic syntheses of previous work around a particular topic. Nearly all scholars have written literature reviews at some point; such reviews are common requirements for class projects or as part of theses, are often the first section of empirical papers, and are sometimes written to summarize a field of study."
Encyclopedia of Research Design (Vol. 2)
There are many different types of literature reviews; however, Narrative Review, Systematic Review, and Meta-Analysis are three commonly used types.