Introduction, comparison, and validation of Meta-Essentials: A free and simple tool for meta-analysis

We present a new tool for meta?analysis, Meta?Essentials, which is free of charge and easy to use. In this paper, we introduce the tool and compare its features to other tools for meta?analysis. We also provide detailed information on the validation of the tool. Although free of charge and simple, Meta?Essentials automatically calculates effect sizes from a wide range of statistics and can be used for a wide range of meta?analysis applications, including subgroup analysis, moderator analysis, and publication bias analyses. The confidence interval of the overall effect is automatically based on the Knapp?Hartung adjustment of the DerSimonian?Laird estimator. However, more advanced meta?analysis methods such as meta?analytical structural equation modelling and meta?regression with multiple covariates are not available. In summary, Meta?Essentials may prove a valuable resource for meta?analysts, including researchers, teachers, and students. Metrics Article has an altmetric score of 19 Details © 2017 The Authors. Research Synthesis Methods published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.