Research Literature Reviews: Types?

Purpose & Scope:

1. Background or Mini-review - short reviews focusing on the last few years, with a limit on the number of words and citations. Usually serve as background for an empirical study. Generally, these reviews: 
   1. justify research design decisions
   2. provide theoretical context, or
   3. identify a gap in the literature
       
2. Standalone or Full-review - advantage of more freedom to cover in detail the complexities of a particular scientific development. Generally, these reviews attempt to make sense of a body entire of of existing literature through:
   1. aggregation
   2. interpretation
   3. explanation, and/or
   4. integration

Types (excludes Quantitative or Experiential Reviews):

1. Traditional reviews 
   1. Critical Review - extensive & critical analysis of articles' quality; goes beyond simple description typically resulting in a hypothesis or model.
   2. Narrative Review - persuasive presentation of literature to support overall conclusions;  lacks a formal data extraction process
   3. State of the Art Review - address more current matters in contrast with other retrospective & current approaches; may offer new perspectives or point out research gaps
       
2. Review of Reviews
   1. Umbrella Reviews - compiles evidence from multiple reviews into one accessible and usable document
       
3. Systematic Reviews
   1. Systematic Review - systematically search for, appraise and synthesize research evidence often adhering to a highly specific methodology. 
   2. Meta-analysis - statistically combines the results of quantitative studies to provide a more precise effect of the results.
       
4. Rapid Reviews
   1. Umbrella Reviews - compiles evidence from multiple reviews into one accessible & working document
       
5. Purpose Specific Reviews
   1. Scoping Review - preliminary assessment of potential size & scope of available research literature; aims to identify the nature & extent of research evidence
   2. Methodological Review - examines & investigates current research methods and potentially their impact on research quality.

Pautasso M.(2013). Ten simple rules for writing a literature review. PLoS Comput Biol., 9(7):e1003149. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003149.

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., and

Xiao, Y., & Watson, M. (2019). Guidance on conducting a systematic literature review. Journal of Planning Education and Research, 39(1), 93-112. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X17723971