Three years ago, two Master students asked me this question at the same time.
“A review paper synthesizes the results from several primary literature papers to produce a coherent argument about a topic or focused description of a field. The purpose of a review paper is to succinctly review recent progress in a particular topic. Overall, the paper summarizes the current state of knowledge of the topic. It creates an understanding of the topic for the reader by discussing the findings presented in recent research papers. ” (http://www.uwlax.edu/biology/communication/ReviewPapers.html)
“An article review is both a summary and an evaluation of another writer’s article. ” (http://www.wikihow.com/Write-an-Article-Review)
American Psychological Association: “review articles, including meta-analyses, are critical evaluations of material that has already been published. By organizing, integrating, and evaluating previously published material, the author of a review article considers the progress of current research toward clarifying a problem. “