The effect of rapid thermal annealing and conventional furnace annealing on the crystallization of SrBi2Ta2O9 is modeled using an Arrhenius-type equation. Based on previous experimental results several authors have suspected that different reaction mechanisms occur depending of the heating rate employed in these two treatment methods. Oppositely, the results here presented and the analysis of reported data suggest two concurrent reaction mechanisms 1) direct transformation of the reagents into the perovskite phase and 2) transformation of an intermediate into the perovskite phase. Another important conclusion here obtained confirms the validity of the Arrhenius equation to predict the behavior of the crystallization process by either of the two heating methods mentioned above. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.