Meta-Analytic Psychotherapy Research,
Open for Everyone.
Tools & Features of the Metapsy Project
A Unified Framework of Meta-Analytic Databases
Metapsy implements the concept of a “meta-analytic research domain” (MARD) for psychological interventions. We provide access to “living” databases that cover an entire research field, and are therefore broader than what can be covered by a single systematic review.
Our goal is to provide up-to-date data on the effects psychotherapy compared to various control groups and alternative treatments, and across all major mental disorders.
Documentation, Versioning & Indexing
All meta-analytic databases included in Metapsy are provided with rich metadata, in which the study search, extraction and coding steps are detailed. We also provide a detailed documentation for each database to increase transparency. All databases are versioned and archived on a public research data repository.
A Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is provided for all versions of each database, which can be used to unambiguously reference each database (and its specific version).
Meta-Analytic Synthesis
Simplified versions of all databases can be explored using the online meta-analysis tool included in Metapsy. This tool allows to select clinical trial data of interest, analyze overall effects in real-time using state-of-the-art meta-analysis methods, and explore effect heterogeneity using subgroup tests and meta-regression models.
An improved version of the online meta-analysis tool is currently under construction and will be released soon.
R Packages
Metapsy includes two R packages to simplify the use of the provided
data for researchers. The metapsyData package can be used to download
all databases (and versions thereof) directly into an R environment. All data is
provided in a standardised format, and codebooks are provided
in the documentation. Using metapsyTools, all databases can
be analyzed “out of the box” using state-of-the-art statistical methods. To export all
databases and metadata in a machine-readable format, the Metapsy API can be used.
.csv file.
All versions of a database can be downloaded on its respective documentation page.
The metapsyData package
allows you to download the latest version of the databases directly into your R environment.
Databases and their metadata can also be retrieved as JSON exports using the Metapsy API. To get an overview of all available software and data developed as part of the Metapsy project, you can visit the Metapsy documentation. In the documentation, we also provide detailed information for each released database, including digital object identifiers (DOIs) for all versions. All databases and software of the Metapsy project is hosted by the
metapsy-project
organization account on
GitHub.
The
metapsyData package allows to directly download all released
databases using R, including older database versions.
The most recent release of the package and preferred citation can be found here.
The
metapsyTools
package allows to run meta-analyses of Metapsy databases, or databases prepared in the same
format.
The most recent release of the package and preferred citation can be found here.
We are also working on an improved version of the online meta-analysis tool that will include more functionality, including the possibility to generate detailed PDF reports of analyses conducted using the online meta-analysis tool.
For
metapsyData and metapsyTools packages, technical support
addresses can be found on their respective documentation pages. Users with a Github account can also raise issues on the designated Git repositories hosted by the
metapsy-project account.