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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Jelaine Gan
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© 2025 The Author(s).Meta-analysis is commonly a core component of systematic reviews and has become an important method to reconcile conflicting findings, increase statistical power, and chart new research directions. However, poor reporting practices make it challenging to evaluate the validity of meta-analyses. Despite the existence of reporting checklists, a specifically designed tool has yet to be developed to appraise the completeness with which a meta-analysis has been reported. To bridge this gap, we introduce the Meta-analysis Appraisal Tool for Environmental Sciences (MATES). To develop MATES, we adapted a Delphi process involving experts in meta-analysis methodologies, researchers with experience in guideline/appraisal tool development, and editors of relevant journals. The Delphi process had five steps, including three workshops (11–16 participants), a survey (193 participants), and a validation task (30 participants). This iterative development process resulted in a 14-item appraisal tool that reflects the environmental science and research syntheses community’s consensus on essential elements to appraise the completeness with which a meta-analysis has been reported. Validation across 50 meta-analyses demonstrated that the tool is repeatable (average agreement rate: 88.97 %) and time-efficient to implement (17.00 ± 12.23 min). We also outline guidance for interpreting MATES results, describe its potential applications, and reflect on the development process. The authors provide practical implementation guidance for each MATES item, illustrated with real examples in the supplementary material. We also report an extended development methodology to support reproducibility. Finally, we built created a ShinyApp that includes both a training module and an application tool to enhance the usability of MATES ( https://kylemorrisonisshiny99.shinyapps.io/MATES_shiny/ ). Overall, MATES provides authors, readers, stakeholders, and editors with a reliable and accessible tool for appraising the completeness with which a meta-analysis in environmental sciences has been reported.
Author(s): Morrison K, Pottier P, Pollo P, Ricolfi L, Williams C, Yang Y, Beillouin D, Cardoso SJ, Ferreira V, Gallagher B, Gan JL, Hao G, Keikha M, Kozlowsky-Suzuki B, Kiran Kumara TM, Latterini F, Leverkus AB, Macartney EL, Manrique SM, Martinig AR, Mizuno A, Nanayakkara S, Ntzani E, Ouedraogo D-Y, Pursell E, Simpson Z, Sleight H, Woon KS, Xia Z, Ghannad M, Grames E, Hennessy EA, IntHout J, Moher D, O'Dea RE, Page MJ, Whaley P, Lagisz M, Nakagawa S
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Environment International
Year: 2026
Volume: 207
Print publication date: 01/01/2026
Online publication date: 29/11/2025
Acceptance date: 14/11/2025
Date deposited: 06/01/2026
ISSN (print): 0160-4120
ISSN (electronic): 1873-6750
Publisher: Elsevier Ltd
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2025.109935
DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2025.109935
Data Access Statement: All data and code are provided in: https://github.com/KyleMorrison99/MATES.
PubMed id: 41411971
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