Navigate the links below to jump to a specific section of the page:

• Definition
• When is a Rapid Review methodology appropriate?
• Outline of Stages
• Methods and Guidance
• Examples of Rapid Reviews
• Supplementary Resources

Tricco et al. (2015) provide the following definition for rapid reviews: "a form of knowledge synthesis in which components of the systematic review process are simplified or omitted to produce information in a timely manner" (p.1). Rapid reviews are especially popular among decision-makers in health care settings. Rapid reviews can be distinguished by their ability to be conducted within a limited timeframe.

Characteristics

• Rapid reviews often include "shortcuts" that streamline and shorten the review process. These include:
  • having a very focused, narrow question
  • searching less comprehensively in databases & grey literature
  • reviewing other reviews on the same topic
  • limiting key variables and conducting a basic quality appraisal
• A key component to the rapid review process is transparent reporting of the stages of the review process which were restricted.
• Note that the timeline of a rapid review is not it's defining feature, it is rather how the review was tailored to the needs of the individual or organization that requests the review.

When to Use It: Based off Grant & Booth (2009) and Tricco et al. (2015), a rapid review might be right for you if you are interested in:

• Expediting finding an answer that will affect policy decisions or other pressing matters.
• Acquiring quality information that is normally produced in a systematic review but have neither the time or budget to complete a full systematic review.

The following stages of conducting rapid reviews are derived from Khangura et al. (2012).

Timeframe: ≤ 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" (Grant & Booth, 2009).

Question: Narrow question, may use PICO 

Is your review question a complex intervention? Learn more about Reviews of Complex Interventions.

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

The following resources provide an overview and guidance on conducting and reporting rapid reviews.

Methods & Guidance

Reporting Guideline

• Anglemyer, A., Moore, T. H., Parker, L., Chambers, T., Grady, A., Chiu, K., Parry, M., Wilczynska, M., Flemyng, E., & Bero, L. (2020). Digital contact tracing technologies in epidemics: a rapid review. The Cochrane database of systematic reviews, 8(8), CD013699. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD013699
• De Kock, J. H., Latham, H. A., Leslie, S. J., Grindle, M., Munoz, S. A., Ellis, L., Polson, R., & O'Malley, C. M. (2021). A rapid review of the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of healthcare workers: implications for supporting psychological well-being. BMC public health, 21(1), 104. doi: 10.1186/s12889-020-10070-3
• Mofina, A., Miller, J., Tranmer, J., & Donnelly, C. (2020). Home care rehabilitation therapy services for individuals with multimorbidity: a rapid review. Journal of comorbidity, 10, 2235042X20976282. doi: 10.1177/2235042X20976282

• Nussbaumer-Streit, B., Mayr, V., Dobrescu, A. I., Chapman, A., Persad, E., Klerings, I., Wagner, G., Siebert, U., Ledinger, D., Zachariah, C., & Gartlehner, G. (2020). Quarantine alone or in combination with other public health measures to control COVID-19: a rapid review. The Cochrane database of systematic reviews, 9(9), CD013574. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD013574.pub2

• Winograd, D. M., Fresquez, C. L., Egli, M., Peterson, E. K., Lombardi, A. R., Megale, A., Tineo, Y., Verile, M. G., Phillips, A. L., Breland, J. Y., Santos, S., & McAndrew, L. M. (2021). Rapid review of virus risk communication interventions: directions for COVID-19. Patient education and counseling, 104(8), 1834–1859. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2021.01.024

• Schünemann, H. (Ed.). Advances in Rapid Reviews series. Systematic reviews.
• Booth, A. (2016). EVIDENT guidance for reviewing the evidence: a compendium of methodological literature and websites. doi: 10.13140/RG.2.1.1562.9842
• Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH). (2015). Rapid Review Summit: Then, Now, and in the Future.
• Cochrane Rapid Reviews Methods Group (RRMG). http://methods.cochrane.org/rapidreviews/
• Garritty, C., Gartlehner, G., Nussbaumer-Streit, B., King, V. J., Hamel, C., Kamel, C., Affengruber, L., & Stevens, A. (2021). Cochrane Rapid Reviews Methods Group offers evidence-informed guidance to conduct rapid reviews. Journal of clinical epidemiology, 130, 13–22. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2020.10.007
• Ganann, R., Ciliska, D., & Thomas, H. (2010). Expediting systematic reviews: methods and implications of rapid reviews. Implementation science : IS, 5, 56. doi: 10.1186/1748-5908-5-56
• Grant, M. J., & Booth, A. (2009). A typology of reviews: an analysis of 14 review types and associated methodologies. Health information and libraries journal, 26(2), 91–108. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-1842.2009.00848.x

• Haby, M. M., Chapman, E., Clark, R., Barreto, J., Reveiz, L., & Lavis, J. N. (2016). What are the best methodologies for rapid reviews of the research evidence for evidence-informed decision making in health policy and practice: a rapid review. Health research policy and systems, 14(1), 83. doi: 10.1186/s12961-016-0155-7

• Hamel, C., Michaud, A., Thuku, M., Skidmore, B., Stevens, A., Nussbaumer-Streit, B., & Garritty, C. (2021). Defining Rapid Reviews: a systematic scoping review and thematic analysis of definitions and defining characteristics of rapid reviews. Journal of clinical epidemiology, 129, 74–85. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2020.09.041

• Hartling, L., Guise, J. M., Kato, E., Anderson, J., Belinson, S., Berliner, E., Dryden, D. M., Featherstone, R., Mitchell, M. D., Motu'apuaka, M., Noorani, H., Paynter, R., Robinson, K. A., Schoelles, K., Umscheid, C. A., & Whitlock, E. (2015). A taxonomy of rapid reviews links report types and methods to specific decision-making contexts. Journal of clinical epidemiology, 68(12), 1451–62.e3. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2015.05.036

• Khangura, S., Konnyu, K., Cushman, R., Grimshaw, J., & Moher, D. (2012). Evidence summaries: the evolution of a rapid review approach. Systematic reviews, 1, 10. doi: 10.1186/2046-4053-1-10

• Khangura, S., Polisena, J., Clifford, T. J., Farrah, K., & Kamel, C. (2014). Rapid review: an emerging approach to evidence synthesis in health technology assessment. International journal of technology assessment in health care, 30(1), 20–27. doi: 10.1017/S0266462313000664

• National Collaborating Centre for Methods and Tools (NCCMT). (2017). Rapid Review Guidebook: Steps for conducting a rapid review.
• Tricco, A. C., Antony, J., Zarin, W., Strifler, L., Ghassemi, M., Ivory, J., Perrier, L., Hutton, B., Moher, D., & Straus, S. E. (2015). A scoping review of rapid review methods. BMC medicine, 13, 224. doi: 10.1186/s12916-015-0465-6
• World Health Organization (WHO). (2017). Rapid reviews to strengthen health policy and systems: a practical guide. https://www.who.int/alliance-hpsr/resources/publications/rapid-review-guide/en/