Using Rapid and Scoping Reviews to Generate Actionable Evidence in Research with Hard-to-Reach Populations

It draws on an applied research project examining youth mentoring as a support strategy for young people experiencing structural disadvantage (McGregor, Lohmeyer & Hartung, 2023), with the empirical basis for the case coming from two linked journal articles, where rapid and scoping reviews were used not only to synthesise evidence, but to shape research design and inform time-sensitive policy and practice decisions.</p><p dir="ltr">The case focuses on the methodological choices involved in selecting and adapting review approaches under conditions of constraint.

These included limited access to participants, ethical sensitivities associated with vulnerable populations, fragmented and interdisciplinary evidence bases, and compressed timelines driven by policy and funding cycles. It examines how search strategies, inclusion criteria, and approaches to synthesis were developed in practice, and how decisions were made about balancing breadth, depth, and rigour.</p><p dir="ltr">Particular attention is given to the challenges of working with grey literature and institutional sources, and to the implications this has for representation, bias, and knowledge production.