Simile is a comparison of two things using the words like or as.. He looks like an elephant. Symbolism is a literary method of extending meaning through the use of commonly accepted symbols or something that stands for another thing.
Scholarly literature is written by researchers who are experts in their field. People who write for academic journals are employed by colleges, universities, or other institutions of education or research. They submit articles to the editors of the journals, who decide whether or not to publish the article.
A literature review is a summary of previous research on a topic. Literature reviews can be either a part of a larger report of a research project, or it can be a bibliographic essay that is published separately in a scholarly journal. Either way, the purpose is the same, to review the scholarly literature relevant to the topic you are studying.