I've used CMA for years now as a researcher and teacher. It is uncommon to see a program that is so full‐featured yet easy enough to use that you can pick it up in an afternoon. The calculations are spoton and the images are sharp enough for use in publication. I recommend the software to all of my students and colleagues who are performing meta‐analysis.

– David Walton PT, PhD
Assistant Professor, The University of Western Ontario

We perform a variety of meta‐analyses for academic, regulatory, and international clients. Each presents a different set of challenges regarding study design and outcome measurement. We have found CMA to be invaluable in this work. The ability of the software to capture a variety of data elements (study design, multiple outcomes, covariates/confounders) and present details of computations is important in the credibility of our work. The ease of use and ability to produce graphics in a variety of formats aids in preparation of the report. In many instances, we are required to replicate the results of CMA in another package (e.g., SAS). We have always found the support staff at CMA very helpful in these replications and the results of CMA have been replicated in every instance. CMA is a great tool in the scientific credibility of our meta‐analytic studies.

– Donna F. Stroup, PhD, MSc
Data for Solutions, Inc.

Although my centre develops the statistical software the whole Cochrane Collaboration uses for its systematic reviews and meta‐analyses (Review Manager), I have often used Comprehensive Meta‐ Analysis for my own research projects, as it is easy to import data from Excel, to use effect modifiers, and also because it allows meta‐regression and produces bubble graphs that are easy to work with in Word or PowerPoint.

– Peter C. Gøtzsche
Professor, Director, MD, DrMedSci, MSc, Nordic Cochrane Centre, Copenhagen, Denmark

Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis software is like a magic wand. The simple and clear interface (like an Excel sheet) will guide you to do complicated meta‐analysis within only a few clicks. The comprehensive formats included in the software allow researchers to input the data in various ways. It provides clear outputs and high‐resolution graphs which can be imported to Microsoft Word. I especially love the feature that shows you the calculation steps so you can check whether you’ve run it correctly. It also provides advanced sub‐group analysis, moderator analysis, meta‐regression, and publication‐bias analysis. This software is a lifesaver! Meta‐analysis becomes very easy with the help of Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis. I am sure I will use this software for upcoming meta‐analyses in the future.

– Jih‐Hsuan Lin (Tammy), Ph.D. Candidate
Media and Information Studies Program, Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI

CMA is an incredible software package for the novice and experienced researcher alike. It offers a sophisticated array of analytical techniques, yet retains the flexibility to adapt to your specific application. The interface is intuitive and user‐friendly, and frees the user to focus on the analysis rather than the software. I use CMA in my graduate biostatistics course and recommend it to all of my faculty colleagues as well. The software is a joy to use!

– Dr. Michael W. Hubble
Associate Professor, Graduate and Distance Program, Director, Emergency Medical Care Program, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC

Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis is an indispensable tool for efficient problem solving in meta‐analyses. Regardless of whether or not you are a statistician, the software leads you to the world of meta‐analysis quickly. Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis is extremely easy to use and understand and it is a terrific product.

– Dr. Takeharu Yamanaka
Cancer Biostatistics Laboratory, National Kyushu Cancer Center, Japan

I have used Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis since I was a student and it has been the basis for dozens of meta‐analysis publications since then. The strengths of the software include its intuitive approaches to statistical issues, ease of use, and clear presentation of the data. Journals appreciate that important changes in figures can be made rapidly and clearly. This has also been an excellent tool for teaching students and colleagues about conducting meta‐analysis ‐ students enjoy the clarity of presentation and ease of use. With all the ease of use, it is important to note that the software allows a variety of statistical approaches that may be difficult to implement in other software, from choices of metaregression effects to presentations of heterogeneity. For my group, this software is indispensable.

– Edward Mills PhD, MSc
LLM Canada, Research Chair, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa

I absolutely loved this program. Without it, I don't know how I would have gotten this series of metaanalyses done, let alone published (see attached). Very easy to use, many great features, and lots of support from you all (i.e., the emails about updates, training opportunities, etc.).

– Robert A. Schug, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice and Forensic Psychology, Department of Criminal Justice, California State University, Long Beach

The combination of CMA software and Introduction to Meta‐Analysis text has proven extremely valuable in our work with medical faculty. The software is both easy to use and versatile in the various types of data that can be analyzed. The text covers the material from the ground up with useful information for both the newcomer and the experienced analyst.

– Jason Brinkley, Ph.D.
Department of Biostatistics, East Carolina University

The meta‐analysis program is easy to use and provides me with information that would be hard to get by any other means. I analyze a lot of data and, believe it or not, use the meta‐analysis program every day. I am not a statistician, but the results I produce have routinely been verified by statistical consultants costing large amounts for their confirmatory analyses. Without verification, I have used the results to make important decisions regarding a potential billion dollar a year product. At night I wonder, “What would I have done without this great program.”

– Louis Fabre MD, PhD
Chairman, Fabre‐Kramer Pharmaceuticals Inc.

I have been using Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis for more than three years and have finished a dozen meta‐analyses with this software. The biggest advantage is that it’s easy to perform and manage the analysis. Studies can be added or removed from the analysis without modifying the data. There are a variety of effect‐size measures, including treatment difference, odds ratios, rate differences, correlations, etc. The diagnosis and transformation of the effect size is just one click away. The highquality forest plot and comprehensive meta‐regression distinguished this software from others.

– Rong Zhou, PhD
Senior Biostatistician, Medpace, Cincinnati, Ohio

We have used "Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis" for several large pediatric orthopaedic projects that have ranged in size from hundreds of patients to thousands of patients, and we have been nothing but pleased with the forest plots and other summary data.

– Charles T Mehlman
Professor of Pediatrics and Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery, Division of Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

I have used Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis software within a course on research methods for doctoral students in nursing. With only a 90‐minute introduction, students were ready to begin data entry and to conduct basic analyses. Both they and I were pleased with its intuitive interface and with the clarity of its output. Additionally, Biostat, Inc. has provided excellent support in our efforts to employ the software in a classroom setting.

– Stephen J. Walsh, Sc.D.
Associate Professor School of Nursing, University of Connecticut

I was interested in learning how to do a systematic review and meta‐analysis. I've done several courses but couldn't evolve to a complete analysis due to the limitations of available software. Then I became aware of "Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis". The program is very intuitive and the book "Introduction to Meta‐Analysis" is the most objective I've ever read in this topic. I have recommended to those interested in starting training in systematic review to begin by this book and software.

– Ricardo Botelho, MD, Ph.D.
Post‐graduate course ‐ IAMSPE, São Paulo, Brazil

Have had a great experience with CMA. Not only an intuitively simple‐to‐use, yet powerful, research tool, but also a great way to teach and introduce students to meta‐analysis.

– Charles DiMaggio, PhD
Associate Clinical Professor, Columbia University, Departments of Anesthesiology and Epidemiology, New York, NY

Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis is a fantastic program that allows you to perform advanced meta‐analytic techniques with minimal effort. The graphics editor is especially versatile and allows you to produce high‐quality graphs with ease. Thankfully it doesn't require the complicated codes often necessitated by some statistical programs. On top of that I have found their customer service prompt and helpful and overall I'm very pleased to have purchased the software.

– Dr. Richard Mc Gee

The Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis program greatly facilitates conducting quantitative research syntheses. Its graphical capabilities are unmatched and make impressive visual displays of cumulative research findings easy to create. It is user friendly, and its algorithms are well validated in the methodological literature. I recommend it highly.

– Steven P. Brown
Bauer Professor of Marketing, C.T. Bauer College of Business, University of Houston

One of the hardest things for non‐statisticians conducting meta‐analyses is to figure out how to combine data when the data are in different forms. Using continuous outcome as an example, one study might report before‐and‐after scores, and another might report change scores. Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis allows one to take data in any form and seamlessly converts it so that all the data can be included, or tells the meta‐analyst what additional information is necessary to complete the process. This one aspect of the program can save hours of time for non‐statisticians who are not used to converting data from one format to another.

– Ian Shrier
McGill University, Canada

I have really enjoyed using the CMA software. Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis makes performing a metaanalysis incredibly straightforward. There are numerous options for data analysis and presentation of results. The software was easy to learn, the tutorials were truly useful, and the staff at CMA were always helpful. My meta‐analysis using your software has recently been published – Calcif Tissue Int. 2010 Sep;87(3):193‐202. Epub 2010 Jun 15.

– Dr. Emily Dodwell, MD, FRCSC
Clinical Fellow, Orthopedic Surgery, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto

I first encountered Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis in an online course in the basics of the statistical technique. The software was intuitive and easy to learn, and it has features that go well beyond the basics. The ability to handle multiple types of data and the comprehensive set of analyses available should satisfy even the most demanding research requirements.

– Scott Segal, MD, MHCM

Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis program is relatively easy to use even for the statistic‐phobes. Directions are easy to follow and guide you through the set‐up of your data. The program makes a seemingly complex process fairly straightforward.

– E. Carol Polifroni, EdD, CNE, NEA‐BC, RN
Associate Professor, University of Connecticut School of Nursing

It is a pleasure to recommend Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis. It is dependable, educational and easy to use software that we use often for research and teaching. Using Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis is very helpful in my research. Moreover, I have become aware of several new procedures and caveats. Using the software is a beautiful way to understand and build skills and a great teaching tool. It should be used by any epidemiologist who is interested in meta‐analysis.

– Shai Linn, MD, DrPH
Dean of the Faculty of Welfare and Health Sciences, University of Haifa

I've been using Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis (CMA) for about five years now and have found it to be the most user‐friendly program for conducting meta‐analyses. CMA allows researchers to conduct meta‐analyses on a wide array of data sets. Further, CMA includes an array of some of the most sophisticated publication bias analyses, allowing researchers to examine an issue that is too often overlooked in meta‐analysis. I would highly recommend CMA to any researcher conducting metaanalyses.

– Christopher J Ferguson
Associate Professor Department of Behavioral Sciences, Texas A&M International University

I have the pleasure to use your software from 2004, and thanks to that, my group had the opportunity to explore many issues in clinical oncology. I am a doctor (not a statistician) and I have to say that the software is really simple (especially v. 2.0), fast‐to‐use, and really easy to understand for anyone who wants to use it. We currently prefer CMA 2.0 to other free software given the mentioned features. Actually, I have no drawbacks to stress, I am really friendly in using your software right now.

– Emilio Bria

Given that publications report a wide range of values from analyses (e.g., means and standard deviations, r, F, t values, eta squared, partial eta squared, etc.), it can be extremely difficult to compute effect sizes that take each of these factors into consideration. This can make the process of a metaanalysis more time consuming that it necessarily has to be. I found one useful and time‐saving aspect of Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis is that it allowed me to enter effect size data from articles in a number of formats. Upon running the analysis, the programme would compute standardised effect sizes for each study (even though I might have used around 10 different types of data entry), as well as an overall effect size. Furthermore, even though I had over 50 moderators to assess, CMA made it simple to test each moderator, whilst offering the option to test moderators according to other specific study characteristics. This meant I could delve deeper into my data to see what was really going on. For these more sophisticated methods, the programme also reports the information required to compute additional statistics, such as tau squared within and between studies (enabling me to compute the R squared statistic), which are not provided by some other programmes but are commonly reported in published meta‐analyses.

– Natalie Taylor, PhD
Researcher, Health and Social Psychology Group, Institute of Psychological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds

I have used Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis for the past six years in my research activities. It has become a part of my research life. I use it for literature review, to compare and contrast differences in findings, and to search for insight in empirical studies. Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis helps me enhance my research productivity, efficiency, and quality.

– Cody Ding
University of Missouri‐St. Louis

Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis (CMA) is a must‐have tool for academic instructors, researchers, and statisticians alike. Developed by a strong team of highly recognized experts in the field, CMA meets all of your meta‐analysis needs and is easy to teach and easy to use. I would not attempt to ever conduct another meta‐analysis without using the CMA program, for the difference is between heaven and earth!

– Guili Zhang, Ph.D.
Asst. Professor of Research Methodology, Department of Curriculum and Instruction Editor, Journal of Curriculum and Instruction, Chair, American Educational Research Association Quantitative Dissertation Award Committee Project Director, IGERT Assessment Project, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC

As a behavioral scientist who is newly developing expertise in using meta‐analysis, I have found CMA to be an invaluable tool. It is user‐friendly, but avoids superficiality and provides me with all the necessary technical depth I need. I have found CMA to be an outstanding program.

– James MacKillop

CMA has been a huge asset in my research on motivation and self‐regulation. I have used this software to conduct multiple meta‐analyses, each requiring different and multiple formats of effect size. CMA surpassed my needs and expectations every time. The software is really "comprehensive" yet exceptionally user‐friendly. Fellows and students have learned to use it in just one sitting. I highly recommend CMA to any researcher wishing to conduct meta‐analysis in a highly effective and efficient manner.

– Patrick Gaudreau, Ph.D.
Professeur agrégé/Associate Professor Université d'Ottawa/University of Ottawa École de Psychologie/School of Psychology Ottawa, ON, Canada

I am an advanced graduate student in clinical psychology, and CMA software was integrated into a meta‐analysis course I recently took. I feel very fortunate to have been trained in meta‐analyses at a time when we have this software because CMA is easy and, I dare say, fun to use. Rather than spending countless hours computing my own effect sizes and creating syntax, the program did it for me, which allowed me to spend my time really looking at the data, both graphically and numerically. I bought CMA for myself and would recommend it to anyone looking to learn the art of meta‐analysis.

– Rachel Hershenberg

I am impressed with the ease or simplicity of the Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis, not only in data entry but also the data generated. Unlike some of the free software available for meta‐analysis, I found the Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis user‐friendly, generating clear graphs and effect sizes. I took a long time to work out some of the free software available by some of my colleagues and found them very userunfriendly, confusing, and the graphs generated not easy on the eye. After chancing on Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis during a Google search and having a go at it during the free trial, I was keen to get my hands on it and have recommended it to some of colleagues. It is definitely worth getting it as it makes meta‐analysis non‐daunting and non‐scary especially for students pursuing their Masters or PhDs.

– Li Whye Cindy, NG

CMA has been the vehicle to get me started with my PhD! A meta‐analysis is the optimal starting point, as it allows you to clearly see the state‐of‐the‐art in your field and pose new questions. CMA, with its self‐explanatory, user‐friendly platform is the kind of software you would hope to be using for your meta‐analyses! Now my students are starting off their journeys in research by performing a metaanalysis using CMA!

– Dr. Papadatou‐Pastou Marietta
Lecturer, University of Athens

Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis (CMA) is one of those rare tools in the research arsenal that does what it is purports to and makes both the process and output understandable. I have used CMA for seven years in my own meta‐analytic work and in EBP workshops and courses. The ease of learning the program application and the resulting output make for a wonderful data analysis and learning tool.

– Chad Nye, PhD
Executive Director, University of Central Florida, Center for Autism & Related Disabilities, Orlando, FL

Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis is a fabulous program for research synthesis, combining ease of use with advanced features not available in standard statistical packages or competing stand‐alone products. The program is ideal for independent analysis or reanalyzing data from another published review (including Cochrane reviews) to explore subgroups, moderator variables, and clinically relevant measures of effect size. Forest and funnel plots can be easily created and customized for publicationquality graphics. As editor in chief of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, I find the program indispensable for preparing a quarterly installment, The Cochrane Corner, which highlights a relevant Cochrane review and provides expert commentary to aid clinicians in applying and understanding the results. I strongly recommend this program to novice and experienced meta‐analysts alike.

– Richard M. Rosenfeld, MD, MPH
Professor and Chairman of Otolaryngology, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY, Journal Editor and Chair, Guideline Development Task Force, American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery

The program in Comparative Effectiveness and Outcomes Research at Duke University conducts multiple systematic reviews and meta‐analyses each year for professional organizations as well as under both federal and industry sponsored research initiatives. While we use various programs tailored for specific individual projects including those developed in‐house, we have found Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis (CMA) to be a very facile, adaptable and yet comprehensive package meeting the needs for much of our research and generating publication‐quality graphics. My confidence in the analytic algorithms is buoyed by my knowledge of several of the developers of CMA and based on extensive comparison of results with other algorithms including our own. CMA is also an exceptional educational tool and universally embraced by trainees and young investigators initiating careers in evidence‐based medicine and statistical analysis.

– Gary H Lyman, MD, MPH, FRCP (Edin)
Professor of Medicine and Director, Comparative Effectiveness and Outcomes Research, Duke University School of Medicine, and the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center, Senior Fellow, Duke Center for Clinical Health Policy Research, Durham, NC

Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis is a gem. Students are able to return to our computer lab to complete a meta‐analysis assignment independently after an initial faculty demonstration session. The software facilitates application of complex concepts with real data, helping students see the power of the metaanalysis process.

– Regina M. Cusson, PhD, NNP‐BC, APRN, FAAN
Professor & Associate Dean, Academic Affairs & Advanced Practice, University of Connecticut, School of Nursing

I recently taught an introduction to meta‐analysis course to graduate students from diverse disciplines including ecology, kinesiology, economics, forestry, veterinary medicine, family studies, and plant pathology. I planned to use another meta‐analysis software package, but learned about CMA one week before the first day of class. Given the variety of options available in CMA, I thought that CMA might be a better fit for my class. In one week, Michael Borenstein sent me the necessary supplementary materials to prepare me for including CMA in the course. CMA is very intuitive and easily accessible for broad meta‐analytic applications. Any questions about CMA were quickly and thoroughly answered. Moreover, the supporting textbook associated with CMA is a must have resource for anyone interested in meta‐analysis as it easily explains complicated analytical concepts. In short, CMA is a great software package for meta‐analysis. I will use CMA again the next time I teach my introduction to metaanalysis course.

– Alan Wilson
Assistant Professor, Auburn University, Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures

I have used Comprehensive Meta‐analysis as the primary course software for a doctoral‐level course on systematic review and meta‐analysis methods which I have taught at Columbia University. The software, documentation, and tutorial materials have made the teaching and learning of meta‐analysis methods stimulating, efficient, and enjoyable. While the methods of meta‐analysis can be daunting to students, this program and supporting materials provide clear guidance and hands‐on experience which greatly enrich the learning process. Based on my experience I think that Comprehensive Meta‐analysis should be required in any course dealing with the subject.

– Edward J Mullen
Willma & Albert Musher Professor, Columbia University

In our one‐week meta‐analysis course in Utrecht, The Netherlands, we used three different software programs, and CMA was most popular, especially for those student who had to do a lot of calculations since CMA did it all for them.

– Maroeska Rovers
Associate professor in clinical epidemiology, Julius Center of Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Being the lecturer for the course on meta‐analysis for the JSSS in Cambridge [the Social Science Research Methods Course programme, a shared platform for providing research students with a broad range of quantitative and qualitative research methods skills that are relevant across the social sciences], I am really forward looking forward to familiarising students with the programme. I found CMA unbelievably flexible‐‐and it wouldn't take students long to familiarise with it given how user‐friedly the programme is.

– Dr. Maria M. Ttofi
Leverhulme and Newton Trust Fellow, Post‐doctoral Researcher, Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge Research Fellow, Wolfson College

CMA 2.0 is perhaps the most user‐friendly statistical software I have used to date. It makes the complicated process of conducting a meta‐analysis much easier. It can be used from start to finish ‐ from direct data entry to publication‐quality graphics. I highly recommend this program!

– Nathan Thoma, M.A.
Psychology Intern, Payne Whitney Clinic, Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York ‐ Presbyterian Hospital

I found the Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis software program to be extremely user friendly, providing instant computational data from the simplest to the most complex statistical problems, a versatile database to help organize and restructure large volumes of multifaceted data, and parallel visuals that help better understand your data. I also found the support staff very helpful in providing responses to both my technical questions about the program itself as well as helpful addressing more general theoretical questions about meta‐analyses. I would highly recommend this program to a novice or more seasoned researcher interested in conducting meta‐analytic statistics.

– Talin Babikian, PhD, MPH
UCLA

Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis Version 2 is really an easy‐to‐use software. It offers you a broad range of statistical, analytical and graphic capabilities to ensure valid meta‐analysis. It is accompanied by a selfexplanatory manual and tutorial. For anyone considering a faster and complete performance of metaanalysis, this software would be a clear first choice. In addition, the book and the online course “Introduction to Meta‐analysis” have been ideal resources in my case, for a complete understanding of this approach. Both strongly recommendable…!!!.

– Dr. Miguel Santibáñez Margüello, M.D., PhD
Researching Support Unit, IFIMAV – Fundación Marques de Valdecilla, Cantabria University, Nurse School, Santander Spain

CMA is a formidable tool for conducting sophisticated meta‐analyses in the domain of cognitive and behavioral sciences. As an early adapter of CMA I am still amazed about its flexibility in data storing, data processing, and its many options for validity checks of meta‐analytic outcomes such as trim‐and‐fill and other state‐of‐the‐art ways to test the influence of unpublished papers. The flexibility of CMA to exchange data with Excel, SPSS, and other statistical software is a major asset. I also taught courses on meta‐analysis with the student version of CMA available for the graduate students, and it has been a real success as CMA makes meta‐analysis transparent as well as motivating for students with a basic training in statistics.

– Marinus H. van IJzendoorn
Centre for Child and Family Studies, Rommert Casimir Institute of Developmental Psychopathology, Institute of Education and Child Studies, Leiden University, The Netherlands

Thank you for developing Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis. It is by far the best tool available for today’s meta‐analytic researcher. It provides flexibility for all possible types of data, it produces great colorful graphical displays, and the product support is unmatched! I have used a number of different programs for conducting meta‐analytic research over the last ten years, and CMA is the only product I recommend to my students and colleagues.

– Karen Larwin, Ph.D.
Educational Foundations, Research Technology and Leadership, Beeghly College of Education, Youngstown State University, Youngstown, OH

Our group has recently begun to conduct meta‐analyses within our area of research, i.e. psychooncology and health psychology, and we have found CMA extremely useful. CMA distinguishes itself from other available meta‐analysis software by the various options to explore and adjust for possible publication bias, as well as by providing several options to explore possible moderators, not only categorical but also continuous. We encourage our PhD students to conduct quantitative systematic reviews as a part of their dissertation whenever possible. The clear menu‐driven approach of CMA makes it easy to use for beginners, so that they can focus their energy on the analytical aspects of metaanalysis, rather than on the technical issues of using the software.

– Bobby (Robert) Zachariae
Professor, dr.med., Psycho‐oncology Research Unit, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark

Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis is, literally speaking, the most comprehensive and user friendly metaanalysis “package” program. It excellently accommodates both advanced and beginning users’ needs at the same time and different levels of needs over time. Among numerous laudable features, this package program provides the most comprehensive and advanced solution for testing publication bias. Using Excel‐like interfaces, moderator analyses are very easy to do! It would be a great loss for any competent researcher and practitioner to overlook this impressive package program.

– In‐Sue Oh, PhD
Department of Management, Virginia Commonwealth University

Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis has been the perfect tool for all of my meta‐analysis needs. From calculating effect sizes to examining moderator effects to testing publication bias to building visually appealing forest plots, this program has it all. Its simplicity and straightforward design makes it easy to use for those just learning this data analysis technique. Additionally, with all that is included, this program is also great for those wishing to run more sophisticated analyses.

– Joshua Swift, PhD
University of Alaska, Anchorage

While I was looking for a computer program for meta‐analysis, I did a thorough search and compared all available programs I located. I decided to use CMA because of its versatility and authoritativeness. It allows me to code data of various formats and conduct all kinds of analysis – Q tests, meta‐regression, sensitivity analysis, etc. It also provides results associated with both the fixed‐effects and randomeffects models. Furthermore, the program is developed by a team of leading scholars in meta‐analysis. I feel lucky to be able to find a program through which I can draw on the expertise of so many outstanding experts.

– Shaofeng Li, Ph.D.
Candidate in Second Language Studies, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI

(1) Working with your staff and the software itself made computer installation and start up incredibly easy. (2) Instructing my students (seniors in a capstone research intensive course) on how to use the software was also remarkably easy. They did far more with the software than I had expected and made some elegant looking figures for their senior presentations. (3) Meta‐analysis was a new technique for our whole department (PUI institution), and the oral presentations by my students using the CMA software and graphics impressed faculty immensely.

– Susan B. Chaplin
Department of Biology, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN

Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis is, in my view, the best meta‐analysis software on the market and a "must have" for any meta‐analyst. Before I used this software, I was convinced that specialized metaanalysis software was not necessary at all. At that time, I used my own Excel spreadsheets and SPSS to run meta‐analysis. In fact, I only tried CMA because I needed a way to make forest plots. Once I tried it, however, I was sold. I could not believe how user friendly it was and how much it could do. Suddenly not only was meta‐analysis more efficient, but, more importantly, I could run all types of analyses that previously were not available with the software I had been using. I have since used the program to conduct and publish several meta‐analyses. Given how great the program is, I require it when I teach my graduate meta‐analysis seminar. Students always seem surprised when they see how easy it is to use, as this is certainly not the norm in statistical software. Thus, our graduate students seem to greatly value CMA as a key resource for conducting meta‐analysis.

– Seth M. Noar, Ph.D.
Professor, Hussman School of Journalism and Media, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Seeing that I can do with Comprehensive Meta‐analysis in 1 week what have taken me 3 weeks when I was using Excel spreadsheets for calculations I have the following: "Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis has increased my effectivity to do meta‐analysis with 200 %". I am extremely satisfied with this program.

– J. Sales, Ph.D. (Agric.), Ph.D. (Fish. Sci.)
Department of Nutrition and Feeding of Farm Animals, Institute of Animal Science, Prague, Czech Republic

I have used Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis II for the last 6 years to assist with a number of published meta‐analytic studies in the behavioral sciences. I have found the program to be flexible and powerful. I have also used CMA II in two graduate seminars focused on meta‐analysis. The students are able to learn the program quickly and appreciate how it structures their data sets and prevents some common mistakes made in meta‐analysis.

– Alan J. Hawkins, Ph.D.
Professor of Family Life, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT

The distinguishing feature of the Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis Software Programme from the other Meta‐Analysis Software Programmes is to be most practical and to be understandable easily. While using the programme the only thing should be done is to enter the necessary data into the data sheet and to click on the relevant buttons. That's all. No need to calculate the statistical formulas by hand to reach the effect sizes, anymore. I would like to send my special thanks to you and your team from Ankara University, Ankara‐Turkey, Sevgi Guney, MSc in ClinPsych, MAPS

– Sevgi Guney
Clinical Psychologist, Ankara University

Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis is a state‐of‐the art, versatile, and user‐friendly program that has met all my research needs for conducting meta‐analyses. The supporting documentation is first rate and the support staff are extremely helpful. I highly recommend this program for anyone engaged in metaanalytic investigations.

– Steven Taylor, PhD
Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia

Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis is easy to learn and use, with a clear and friendly interface. The software provides a detailed display of meta‐analytic results plus a wonderful format for presentation of results. It is my favorite software for meta‐analysis of study‐level data.

– Joe Cappelleri
Pfizer, Inc.

Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis (CMA) is an excellent statistical software program. CMA is very userfriendly, provides essential elements of analyses required for synthesis of quantitative studies, evaluates publication bias statistically and graphically, and offers technical support. I have used CMA for a recent study I conducted with my professor at the University of Maryland, The reliability and validity of the Anticipated Turnover Scale across studies of RNs in the US (in press). I highly recommend the Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis software program for anyone conducting meta‐analytic research.

– Kathy Barlow RN, MS
Doctoral student, University of Maryland School of Nursing, Baltimore, Maryland

I have conducted several meta‐analyses over the past several years, and Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis has been the main software I have relied on. It is "user friendly" and it provides a wide range of options to fit the different types of effect size information found in different types of studies. Most importantly, I know I can rely on the statistical formulas at the foundation of the software, due to the top‐notch development team for CMA.

– Frank Pearson

I'm a graduate student at NC State University, and recently I tried out CMA for my lab. For the record, it is awesome. My lab, Meta World, is specifically focused on meta‐analysis, so we've used a lot of programs both good and bad. CMA is by far the best we've tried in terms of ease of use. It is simple enough for a first time meta‐analyst to use, but the best part is the diversity of options for the more advanced user. It is amazingly easy to switch effects models and other aspects, to the point that it's fun to fiddle around with things to see the difference they make. The options for output are everything you'd need for publication, and they look a good sight better than what I would have come up with without CMA. It is the only software that had all the functionality I needed for my thesis, and without it I would be stuck writing my own code.

– Jennifer London
Doctoral Student in I/O Psychology, NC State University

As a first‐year graduate student with minimal knowledge of meta‐analysis at the time, I found Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis to be an incredibly user‐friendly program. I began using Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis while reading Lipsey & Wilson's (2001) Practical Meta‐Analysis and found it easy to transition from the conceptual and practical issues discussed in their text to the procedures available in your program. My mentor and I continue to use your program as we prepare my Master's thesis for publication, and our use of this software has undoubtedly facilitated our progress. Best of luck with the future development of Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis and with your ongoing scholarship.

– Jonathan Shaffer, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Behavioral Cardiovascular Health, Columbia University Medical Center

I used Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis (CMA) to help me analyze research questions of my dissertation. Without CMA, I won't be able to complete 'two folders' of analysis on time. I would also like to thank the team of CMA to help me make clear problems I encountered. My dissertation earned the annual dissertation award of my school. I would like to share this honor with the CMA and Dr. Borenstein, a humorous and sincere scholar.

– Yueh‐Yen Fang, Ph.D., RN
Assistant Professor, Fooyin University, Taiwan

'Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis' lives up to its name by offering a range of options for analysis, at the same time doing so through a very user‐friendly interface. It has been invaluable to have a software option such as this during the course of my dissertation, and I am sure I will come back to CMA for future research also.

– Deepa Pillai
Doctoral Candidate, Dept. of Marketing, College of Business, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale IL

The program is a perfect companion to Borenstein et al's book since it allowed my students to try the concepts discussed in the book. We have done most of the computations by hand first and then checked our answers with CMA. This gave the students 'a feel' for meta‐analysis and made them realise that the method is not just about feeding some abstract numbers into a black box and getting a meaningless number at the end. Instead, using the book and the program together the students learned the maths behind the computations and the meaning of the final results. I found the help manual especially user‐friendly and ready for classroom use. My students were able to get most of the exercises done at home such that we had the time to discuss the answers and their implications in class.

– Dr. Karina De Santis (PhD)
Lecturer in Statistics and Research Methods, Jacobs University, Bremen gGmbH School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Bremen, Germany

We have used a number of meta‐analytic packages in our research and teaching, but have found the use of Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis as the only complete meta‐analysis software that meets not only the needs of our researchers but also the needs of the classroom.

– Dr. R. L. Brown
Professor of Research Methodology, Director of Research Design and Statistics Unit, Schools of Nursing, Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin‐Madison, Madison, WI

My colleagues and I thought that the software is really easy to use. My students were also very satisfied. The task of calculating effect sizes was easy to understand, even for people without advanced knowledge in statistics. The program has numerous options for data entry, calculation of effect sizes, and tests for heterogeneity and publication bias, and facilitates the presentation to a comprehensive meta‐analytic project. Technical and other support from the company was available immediately.

– Maria Katapodi
Michigan, USA

Comprehensive meta‐analysis is so easy to use that a clinician feels absolutely comfortable with it. You only need to have the results from individual studies and follow instructions: you will have calculations and graphs in a way that you can easily interpret. With this software meta‐analysis is not arcane any more: if you can read papers based on this statistical technique you will be able to write them as well.

– Prof. Luis Garcia‐Marcos
Professor of Pediatrics, University of Murcia, Spain

“Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis” represents state‐of‐the art software for conducting meta‐analysis and I highly recommend it to individuals of all stripes seeking to conduct quantitative reviews of the research literature. Its template for data input and its various options for producing outputs and tables make it one‐stop software for research reports. I cannot say enough about CMA and its functionality.

– Thomas Hugh Feeley
University at Buffalo

I was an early adopter of CMA version 2 and have used it extensively in the last few years. CMA is easy to use, has a great diversity of computational options, is very reliable and is now well known by journal editors. I have no hesitation in recommending CMA to fellow academics.

– Dr. Matthew Large
School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Australia

I've been using different versions of the comprehensive meta‐analysis software over many years for my research. Each version improved significantly, added new and important features, and made the visual outcomes easier to comprehend and present. One such improvement, for example, was the addition of moderater analysis for both categorical and continuous variables. It provides an easily understood menu that guides the user toward a correct statistical analysis. I also find the manual very useful and supportive, recommend it to my graduate students to use it for self‐teaching learning.

– Nurcan Ensari, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Marshall Goldsmith School of Management, Alliant International University, Los Angeles

We had no knowledge on meta‐analyses and were somewhat confused by the number of programs available. Most of them were not easy to use, not insightful and required a priori knowledge of metaanalyses statistics. There was one exception: Comprehensive Meta‐analysis. We downloaded the software and went through the easy‐to‐use tutorial. Within an hour we were performing our own metaanalysis! Our analysis was verified by our statistical department with excellent results, giving us further confidence to continue our analysis and resulting in an excellent paper in the top journal on pain research: Niesters et al., Do Sex Differences Exist in Opioid Analgesia? A Systematic Review and Meta‐ Analysis of Human Experimental and Clinical Studies. Pain, 2010, in press, doi:10.1016/j.pain.2010.06.012.

– Albert Dahan, MD, PhD & Marieke Niesters, MD, MSc
Department of Anesthesiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands

The CMA program has been invaluable to us and greatly sped up the generation of a number of metaanalyses that we have conducted. It is actually user‐friendly (a compliment I rarely make!), has all the needed key features and is a pleasure to use. Not only that, Dr. Borentein was very helpful and responsive when we needed help. Thank you!

– Wolfgang Linden
Professor in Clinical psychology, University of British Columbia

I recently used Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis on a large and complex data set involving several different outcome variables, several different research designs, and hundreds of effect sizes. I found the program easy to use and very powerful. Moderator analyses were easy to conduct, as were examinations of potential publication/selection biases. The user interface is intuitive and easy to navigate. It is a wonderful tool!

– Craig A. Anderson
Distinguished Professor Director, Center for the Study of Violence Department of Psychology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA

Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis is easy to learn and use, but offers a surprising range of cutting‐edge analytic procedures. It helped to make my recent experience with meta‐analysis more efficient and enjoyable!

– James F. Paulson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor & Clinical Psychologist Department of Pediatrics, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters, Norfolk, VA

I have used CMA over the past four years on several pediatric orthopaedic projects leading to multiple publications. I have found that CMA has several valuable functions that RevMan does not offer. Additionally, I have found the staff and tech support to be very helpful. Thanks for a great product.

– Guy Klein, DO
Department of Orthopedic Surgery, University Hospitals, Richmond Heights, Willoughby, OH

As an NIH funded meta‐analytic researcher, I can honestly say that Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis is currently the most comprehensive stand‐alone software package for conducting high‐quality metaanalyses. I especially like its ease of use, including, but not limited to, the ability to calculate effect sizes from a large array of reported statistics as well as the ability to easily combine results from multiple groups in the same study into one common effect size. In my opinion, this is a “must” purchase for any serious meta‐analyst.

– George A. Kelley, DA, FACSM
Professor & Director, Meta‐Analytic Research Group, School of Medicine. Department of Community Medicine, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV

Comprehensive meta‐analysis (CMA) is essential software for the meta‐analyst. Complex analyses can be conducted easily using this intuitive software. The support staff are always helpful and respond quickly when questions arise. I highly recommend CMA.

– Erika A. Patall
Department of Educational Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX

I have been using Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis for more than 3 years and have finished a dozen metaanalysis with this software. The biggest advantage is easy to perform and manage the analysis. Studies can be added or removed from the analysis without modifying the data. There are a variety of effect size measures, including treatment difference, odds ratios, rate differences, correlations, etc. The diagnosis and transformation of the effect size is just one click away. The high‐quality forest plot and comprehensive meta‐regression distinguished this software from others.

– Rong Zhou, PhD
Senior Biostatistician, Medpace. Cincinnati, Ohio

I can confirm that comprehensive meta‐analysis is a very valuable tool for analyzing data. In one of my most important publications the use of forest plots constructed with Comprehensive Meta‐analysis has contributed to the success of this article. As a clinician my statistical background is not as strong as I would like it to be. However, using CMA is very straightforward and I was able to astonish my epidemiologist co‐author. I can recommend Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis to any clinical researcher.

– Harm J T Rutten, MD, PhD, FRCS (London)
Head, Department Surgical Oncology, Catharina Hospital, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

Since I bought Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis Version 2 about three years ago, it has become a faithful companion that is very easy to use, can be intuitively understood and offers all the options necessary for my meta‐analyses.

– Stefan Leucht, MD
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Technische, Universit Mnchen, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Munich Germany

I’ve been using Comprehensive meta‐analysis for some time now and I find it a very user‐friendly and indeed comprehensive software when compared to other software. Some meta analysis functions are present in the latest version of NCSS (Number Cruncher Statistical System), but much less, as this is a more general statistical package; specific meta analysis software like Revman and MIX are less easy to use. Especially in combination with the online course on meta analysis of Michael Borenstein, this software can be warmly recommended without reservation.

– JWG Jacobs
Associate Professor, Houten, Netherlands

Until we purchased CMA, meta‐analysis was a burdensome chore. While nothing will take the labor out of coding studies, CMA has been a boon to our lab, and we have done three studies in the past year. It saves many, many hours. It is well worth the cost and pays rich dividends.

– Everett L. Worthington, Jr.
Professor of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA

Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis v.2 is the definitive leading software for computing, presenting and analysing results of meta‐analyses. The programme provides beginners as well as advanced researchers meta‐analysis opportunities, unmatched by competing programmes. Computing effect sizes, combining across various types of outcomes, conducting moderators analyses, and presenting these rather complex analyses in less than five stages, could not have been more user‐friendly.

– Barak Ariel
UK

CMA is very easy to use. That’s partly because of the manual and tutorial which take you through the analysis step by step. It’s also extremely versatile in terms of the type of input data it will accept (which is really valuable because with a meta‐analysis you have to take what data you can get). The output is comprehensive enough to permit you to interpret your effects, not merely report them.

– Dr. Marie Blackmore
Research Coordinator, The Centre for Cerebral Palsy, Mount Lawley, WA, Australia

Even in its earliest versions, Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis was easy to use. More importantly, Michael Borenstein and his colleagues were readily available to assist with the few questions I had about the software. For beginners in meta‐analysis and for seasoned researchers, I highly recommend this program. You will not be disappointed.

– Tracey Scherr, PhD
Nationally Certified School Psychologist, Associate Professor of Psychology, University of Wisconsin‐Whitewater

I am a PhD Candidate and used your software to successfully complete my Master's thesis. I find the CMA software to be very user‐friendly; it was easy to learn how to use and has an excellent selection of options for analysis. I also find the customer support to be very helpful and timely. I would and have recommended the software to others.

– Amanda Epp, M.Sc.
Doctoral Student, Clinical Psychology, University of Calgary, Depression Research Lab

I have been using Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis for the past five years and have enjoyed the many features of this software including the numerous options for fitting data into the spreadsheet for analysis of categorical and continuous data and the ease of labeling variables and study names. The built in analysis features are many and easy to apply including the test for heterogeneity and Egger’s test for publication bias. This software has allowed me to publish meta‐analyses with confidence in several peer reviewed journals including the Journal of Cardiology. Also I am often asked to give lectures on the use of meta‐analyses. My demonstrations include examples from this program. When asked by my peers for a reliable meta‐analysis package I do recommend this software.

– Al Bartolucci, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama

Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis is easy to use in terms of data entry, flexibility of variables, options with fixed and random analysis and understanding output. I recommend it to all my students conducting meta‐analyses because of these reasons. It is the only software program I use to conduct analysis of studies.

– Guy D. Eslick
Associate Professor, The Whiteley‐Martin Research Centre, Discipline of Surgery, The University of Sydney

Over the past several months that I have used Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis, I have found it to be highly user‐friendly and quite versatile in function. I have incorporated the high resolution plots into my manuscripts and slide presentations with no difficulty. I would like to thank you and your staff for the highly professional technical support.

– Nasrollah Ghahramani, MD, MS
Division of Nephrology

Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis is a modest name, a more fitting name would be deluxe user friendly meta‐analysis. In a short‐time even beginners can be conducting sophisticated analyses using state of the art methods.

– Prof. Jonathan Rabinowitz
Bar Ilan University, Israel

I have been using CMA as a researcher and I am really impressed by its user‐friendly applicability and unique, sophisticated features. Developed by a team of recognized experts in the field, this excellent, powerful program offers the opportunity even to a beginner to conceive and apply the principles of meta‐analysis very quickly and accurately. I recommend the software without any hesitation to my students and colleagues, who are interested to perform any kind of meta‐analysis.

– Dr. Charalampos Mamoulakis, MD, MSci (Biostat), PhD
FEBU Lecturer of Urology, University of Crete, Medical School Department of Urology, University Hospital of Heraklion, Crete‐Greece

I have been a satisfied user of Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis software for about two years. I find the software is easy to use and offers an extensive range of options for analysis. I like being able to toggle between fixed and random effects, and seeing the difference(s) between the two. I also find that the ability to evaluate symmetrical confidence intervals, and have non‐symmetry flagged, is a major advantage to the software. The automatic generation of funnel plots, which do not exist as an option in many scientific graphing packages, is particularly of value when discussing bias.

– David M. O'Sullivan
Hartford Hospital, Hartford, CT USA

Comprehensive meta‐analysis has been an easy to learn and reliable program that was my primary tool in conducting and publishing two large meta‐analyses in high impact factor peer reviewed journals.

– Jennifer E. Hettema, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, University of Virginia, Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences, UVA Center for Addiction Research and Education, Richmond, VA

CMA is a very useful and friendly software that has being used both as an auxiliary tool for my papers preparation, and as the program elected for the analysis that I usually do with my students in order to train them in this field of meta‐analysis. In brief, this is a very well‐conceived statistical analysis software, useful for trainees in statistical analysis as well as for senior researchers.

– J. Marques‐Teixeira, MD, PhD
Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist, Aggregate Professor, University of Porto, Clinical Director of Neurobios ‐ Neurosciences Institute

Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis is a cutting‐edge tool for researchers who are involved in systematic review and meta‐analysis. It provides methods for analyzing and presenting data that are easy to use and give clear presentations of findings. This is just a fantastic tool! Every serious scholar in this area should have it.

– David Weisburd, Ph.D.
Walter E Meyer Professor of Law and Criminal Justice, Director, Institute of Criminology, Faculty of Law, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

My experience with Comprehensive Meta‐analysis is highly positive. The spreadsheet interfaces for data entry are very intuitive. They handle an astonishing wide array of indices and formats for effect sizes, including the possibility of entering them in the spreadsheet by copy‐and‐paste. The exploratory phase is easily performed thanks to a variety of facilities, as cumulative meta‐analysis, sensitivity analysis by the “one‐study‐removed” procedure, and subgroup analysis, among others. It covers all basic fixed and random effect models and provides high‐quality graphical outputs for reports. The tutorial and the manual are really helpful and friendly. In short, Comprehensive Meta‐analysis is my favorite tool both for performing and teaching meta‐analysis.

– Professor Juan Botella
Autonomous University of Madrid

Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis is the premier program for conducting meta‐ analyses. It has incredible flexibility in including many different types of effect sizes and in converting between them in a single analysis. It is extremely user‐friendly and has brilliant graphical capabilities.

– David P. Farrington
Institute of Criminology, Cambridge University

Comprehensive Meta‐Analysis is a powerful program for meta‐analysis computations. It is user‐friendly and easy to learn. Its capabilities to produce forest plots and complete subgroup analyses are particularly useful. Additionally, the CMA support staff is quick to respond to any trouble‐shooting issues.

– Audrey Flak
(CDC/ONDIEH/NCBDDD) (CTR)

A few years ago after a short survey looking for good software to perform meta-analyses I purchased the CMA and since then I'm using it and enjoying my choice. I think the software is very good, easy to use, and generates everything I need when performing meta-analyses, including the charts.

– Dr. Ori Rogowski
Senior Physician, Internal Medicine, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv, Israel

The program was easy to understand and exceptionally helpful for a non‐statistician doing metaanalyses. I encourage anyone who is interested in doing a meta‐analysis to test the software and see its power. The program has allowed me to publish important data in top‐tiered medical journals.

– Jeffrey S. Berger, MD, MS, FACC
Assistant Professor of Medicine (Cardiology and Hematology), Assistant Professor of Surgery (Vascular Surgery), Director of Cardiovascular Thrombosis, New York University School of Medicine

I've been especially impressed by (1) the very wide range of effect size measures CMA accepts, and (2) how well it works with students learning about meta‐analysis. It's a wonderful resource!

– Geoff Cumming, DPhil
Emeritus Professor, School of Psychological Science, La Trobe University, Vic, Australia