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Table 1 Characteristics of available meta-analysis software

From: MetaGenyo: a web tool for meta-analysis of genetic association studies

 

STATA

SPSS

MIX

MetaEasy

meta

rmeta

metafor

MetaGenyo

USABILITY

Availability

Commercial

Commercial

Commerciala

Freeb

Free

Free

Free

Free

Web-based

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

Yes

Operating system

Windows, Mac OS, Linux

Windows, Mac OS, Linux

Windows

Windows

Windows, Mac OS, Linux

Windows, Mac OS, Linux

Windows, Mac OS, Linux

Anyc

Guided workflow

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

Yes

Programming knowledge

Yesd

Yesd

No

No

R language

R language

R language

No

FUNCTIONALITIES

Specific for GAS meta-analysis

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

Yes

HWE testing

Yes

No

No

No

No

No

No

Yes

Heterogeneity assessment

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Random/Fixed effect models

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Forest plot

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Automatic testing of genetic models

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

Yes

Publication bias

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Subgroup analysis

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Robustness analysis

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

P-value correction for multiple testing

Yes

Yes

No

No

No

No

No

Yes

  1. aThere is a MIX free version with reduced capabilities. bMetaEasy is free, but it depends on the proprietary software Microsoft Excel. cMetaGenyo is accessed through an internet browser, so there are no limitations regarding the operating system used to access it. dAlthough STATA and SPSS are command-based software, there are graphical user interfaces (GUIs) available which permits replacing scripting by user-friendly interactive commands