ACROSS FAMILIES/ Review & synthesis
Rapid review
Make explicit trade-offs for a time-sensitive decision
A rapid review accelerates selected systematic review procedures to provide evidence within a decision deadline. It is defined by deliberate streamlining rather than by a universal duration. Restrictions to sources, dates or screening processes must be justified and reported. The appropriate compromise depends on the consequences of missing or misclassifying relevant evidence.
WHEN IT FITS
Use when a defined decision cannot wait for a full review and stakeholders can agree which uncertainties and procedural shortcuts are acceptable for the question.
Strengths
- Fits evidence production to an actual decision deadline
- Makes resource trade-offs explicit
Limitations
- Restrictions may miss relevant or contradictory studies
- Single-reviewer processes can increase selection or extraction errors
Know the boundary
A short deadline does not justify calling an undocumented literature search systematic.
USED ACROSS
Banking & financeBusiness & MBAPsychologyComputer scienceEducation