Scientific research

Jacob Sierra Díaz18 appsUpdated Dec 29, 2025

Systematic reviews and meta-analysis

This section includes the applications and software used in the systematic review and meta-analysis.

Reference managers

This section includes the first tools for research designed to organize, store, and format bibliographic references efficiently.

Zotero
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Zotero is a free, easy-to-use tool to help you collect, organize, share research and cite your research sources directly in your favourite word processor, with 300 MB free online storage.
Cost / License
Freemium
Open Source
Application typeApplication types
Research Manager
Document Manager
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Android
iPhone
Android Tablet
iPad
Microsoft Edge
Google Chrome
Safari
Microsoft Word
Google Docs
LibreOffice
Mozilla Firefox
+2
Jacob Sierra Díaz’s note
Zotero is a free, open-source reference manager that enables one-click capture of references from websites and databases. It provides powerful organization tools, synchronization across devices, and supports citation in thousands of styles through plugins for Word, LibreOffice, and Google Docs, along with an extensive ecosystem of add-ons for customization.
Mendeley
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Mendeley helps manage and share academic knowledge: Mendeley Desktop is free academic software (Windows, Mac, Linux) for organizing and sharing research papers and generating bibliographies with 1GB of free online storage to automatically back up and synchronize your library...
Cost / License
Freemium
Proprietary
Application typeApplication types
Research Manager
Document Manager
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Online
+2
Jacob Sierra Díaz’s note
Mendeley is a reference manager from Elsevier that helps researchers organize PDFs, extract metadata, and create citations with ease. It integrates with Microsoft Word for in-text citations and bibliography generation, offers cloud storage and collaboration through shared groups, and includes a web importer for capturing references from online sources.

Systematic reviews and meta-analysis

This section includes the applications and software used in the systematic review and meta-analysis.

Cadima
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Cadima is a free web tool for conducting and assuring the documentation and quality of systematic reviews, systematic maps and further literature reviews. This web service allows teamwork without restrictions regarding the number of researchers.
Cost / License
Free
Proprietary
Platforms
Online
Jacob Sierra Díaz’s note
Systematic review software (whole process) | CADIMA is an open-access online platform designed to support the entire workflow of systematic reviews and evidence syntheses. It is particularly useful for managing literature screening, data extraction, and documentation in a transparent and reproducible manner. CADIMA enables collaborative work among reviewers, provides structured templates for data collection, and ensures compliance with best-practice guidelines for systematic reviews.
Rayyan
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Rayyan is a software platform created to streamline remote collaboration for reviews. It offers a suitable environment for remote research teams to collaborate, irrespective of their location or time zone.
Cost / License
Freemium
Proprietary
Platforms
Online
Android
iPhone
Jacob Sierra Díaz’s note
Systematic review software (focused on screening) | Rayyan is particularly useful for managing the two levels of screening required in a systematic review: title/abstract screening and full-text screening. It also facilitates peer assessment of the selection process by enabling blinded decisions and conflict resolution among reviewers.
HubMeta
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HubMeta Ignite is the next generation of our platform—where cutting-edge AI meets human expertise to transform research and scholarship. As we build this exciting evolution, our legacy platform remains available, continuing to empower researchers globally for over 8 years.
Cost / License
Free Personal
Proprietary
Platforms
Online
Jacob Sierra Díaz’s note
Systematic review software (focused on screening) | HubMeta integrates Artificial Intelligence in the search equation and screening process.
Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (CMA)
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Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (abbreviated as CMA) is a helpful software for non-statistician researchers doing meta-analyses. Indeed, the program combines ease of use with a wide range of computational options and sophisticated graphics.
Cost / License
Paid
Proprietary
Platforms
Windows
Jacob Sierra Díaz’s note
Meta-analysis software (Statistical application) | CMA is only available for Windows. You can use it on Mac with virtual machines.
ProMeta 3
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ProMeta 3.0 is a professional statistical software for conducting meta-analysis. It is developed in 2015 by Internovi. Java is required to run ProMeta 3.0.
Cost / License
Free
Proprietary
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Jacob Sierra Díaz’s note
Meta-analysis software (Statistical application) | ProMeta 3 is an interesting free alternative to CMA and it is user-friendly.
RevMan - Review Manager
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Review Manager (RevMan) is a software developed by Cochrane to design and write (Cochrane) Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis. RevMan can be run online or with the desktop version. Indeed, you can access or download the software on Cochrane site.
Cost / License
Free Personal
Proprietary
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Online
Jacob Sierra Díaz’s note
Systematic review and meta-analysis software | RevMan 5 is suitable for Cochrane systematic review and/or meta-analysis

Popular spreadsheet

This is the typical software to do basic (or even advance) data analysis. What I really like about these spreadsheets is that I can customize the input and output (such as changing colors). Although I use the following section to perform statistical analysis, I always prepare a preliminar dataset using one of the following software.

Microsoft Excel
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Microsoft Excel, part of the Microsoft 365 Copilot, is Microsoft's spreadsheet application. With the Microsoft Office Fluent user interface, rich data visualization, pivot table views, and professional-looking charts are easier to create...
Cost / License
Paid
Proprietary
Application typeApplication types
Spreadsheet App
Team Collaboration Tool
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Android
iPhone
Android Tablet
Windows Phone
iPad
Jacob Sierra Díaz’s note
(1.1) M.O. Excel is the main spreadsheet that I use to prepare my dataset before using a specific statistical package. What I love most is that I can color the cells, which is very visual for reviewing the dataset.
Numbers
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Create gorgeous spreadsheets with Numbers for Mac. Get started with one of over 30 Apple-designed templates for your home budget, checklist, invoice, mortgage calculator, and more. Add tables, charts, text, and images anywhere on the free-form canvas.
Cost / License
Freemium
Proprietary
Application type
Spreadsheet App
Platforms
Mac
Online
iPhone
iPad
+6
Jacob Sierra Díaz’s note
(1.2) Well, this is a great alternative for Excel. Sometimes I used the iCloud version, specially when I have to use a computer that is not mine.
Google Sheets
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Cloud-based spreadsheet editor for real-time collaboration, chart creation, formula support, export options, access controls, and Drive integration.
Cost / License
Free
Proprietary
Application typeApplication types
Spreadsheet App
Team Collaboration Tool
Platforms
Online
Android
iPhone
Chrome OS
Android Tablet
iPad
+1
Jacob Sierra Díaz’s note
(1.3) This is also a wonderful alternative for Excel and Numbers.

Data analysis software

When the spreadsheet is digitally prepared, I use specific software to conduct the analysis.

IBM SPSS Statistics
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The IBM SPSS software platform offers advanced statistical analysis, a vast library of machine-learning algorithms, text analysis, open-source extensibility, integration with big data and seamless deployment into applications.
Cost / License
Paid
Proprietary
Application type
Statistical Analyzer
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Jacob Sierra Díaz’s note
(2.1) This is the most important statistical software in which I conduct the majority of statistical analysis. I really love the Graphical User Interface and the way IBM enable you to execute simple and complex analysis. It is very intuitive.
PSPP
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PSPP is a free software application for analysis of sampled data. It has a graphical user interface and conventional command line interface. It is written in C, uses GNU Scientific Library for its mathematical routines, and plotutils for generating graphs.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application typeApplication types
Statistical Analyzer
Network Analyzer
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Jacob Sierra Díaz’s note
(2.2) PSPP is the free alternative of SPSS.
R (programming language)
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R is a free software environment for statistical computing and graphics. It is a GNU project which is similar to the S language and environment which was developed at Bell Laboratories (formerly AT&T, now Lucent Technologies) by John Chambers and colleagues. R can be consider.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application typeApplication types
Programming Language
Statistical Analyzer
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
BSD
Jacob Sierra Díaz’s note
(3.1) R is a programming language very useful to perform complex statistical analysis. You can create specific operations or use different functions by the myriad of macros available on the Internet. In addition, there is a powerful and interesting community around R. R only works by syntax (no Graphical User Interface such SPSS)
RStudio
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RStudio™ is an integrated development environment (IDE) for R. RStudio combines an intuitive user interface with powerful coding tools to help you get the most out of R.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application type
IDE
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Xfce
+1
Jacob Sierra Díaz’s note
(3.2) This is the "friendly" version of R. I love this application too, and help me to understand the operations and the syntax behind R.
jamovi
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jamovi is a free and open statistical platform which is intuitive to use, and can provide the latest developments in statistics.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application type
Statistical Analyzer
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Flathub
Online
Jacob Sierra Díaz’s note
(4.1) A good (and free) alternative to SPSS or R is Jamovi. Here, you can conduct simple and complex data analysis in a user-friendly environment.
JASP
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JASP is a free and open-source graphical program for statistical analysis supported by the University of Amsterdam. It is designed to be easy to use, and familiar to users of SPSS. It offers standard analysis procedures in both their classical and Bayesian form.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application typeApplication types
Statistical Analyzer
Network Analyzer
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
Chrome OS
Flathub
Jacob Sierra Díaz’s note
(4.2) JASP is an interesting alternative to Jamovi and the aforementioned software.
Orange
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Orange is an open-source, cross-platform data mining and machine learning suite. It features visual programming as intuitive means of combining data analysis and interactive visualization methods into powerful workflows.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application type
Data Mining Software
Platforms
Mac
Windows
Linux
+6
Jacob Sierra Díaz’s note
(5.1) Finally, Orange is a creative and relevant way to perform statistical analysis. It is very warm. I am sure that you will not consider Statistics boring anymore.