What is a Rapid Review?

Rapid reviews (also known as rapid evidence assessment) also seek to synthesize evidence with minimal bias, however they are completed in a  shorter timeframe than systematic reviews and are less comprehensive. Searching is systematic and transparent, but less exhaustive than a systematic review.

What might make a Rapid Review 'rapid'?

Some aspects of the systematic review process are either omitted or shortened to accommodate a shorter timeframe. Some examples include:

• Searching a smaller selection of databases
• Omitting grey literature and/or hand searching
• Restricting to a particular study type
• Reviewing reviews
• Limiting the number of outcomes being included
• Quality assessed at study design level, rather than appraising individual studies
• Limiting the amount of analysis and interpretation

The details of steps omitted in the rapid review process will be listed in the article, often in the limitations section.

Should I register a protocol for a rapid review?  

Protocols should be completed for any type of review - rapid review protocols should be registered if the rapid review will be published.

Rapid Review Outline:

• Timeframe:   Typically, less than 5 weeks (varies) *Varies beyond the type of review. Depends on many factors such as but not limited to: resources available, the quantity and quality of the literature, and the expertise or experience of reviewers
• Question: Narrow question, may use a review framework
• Sources and searches: Sources are limited due to time constraints of searching, however, still uses transparent and reproducible search methods.
• Selection: Based on inclusion/exclusion criteria
• Appraisal: Critical and rigorous but time limited
• Synthesis: Descriptive summary or categorization of data, may still be quantitative

(Source: Khangura S. et al. (2012) Evidence summaries: the evolution of a rapid review approach)