Often referred to synonymously with Rapid Reviews, “Rapid evidence assessments provide a more structured and rigorous search and quality assessment of the evidence than a literature review but are not as exhaustive as a systematic review”. They can be used to “gain an overview of the density and quality of evidence on a particular issue, support programming decisions by providing evidence on key topics, and support the commissioning of further research by identifying evidence gaps” (Department for International Development, 2017).
Crawford, C., Boyd, C., Jain, S., Khorsan, R., & Jonas, W. (2015). Rapid Evidence Assessment of the Literature (REAL©): streamlining the systematic review process and creating utility for evidence-based health care. BMC research notes, 8(1), 1-9. Full Text
Thomas, J., Newman, M., & Oliver, S. (2013). Rapid evidence assessments of research to inform social policy: taking stock and moving forward. Evidence & policy: a journal of research, debate and practice, 9(1), 5-27. Full Text
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. Full Text