Measurement Instruments for Research, Education, and Clinical Practice: Measurement Instrument Reviews / Test Collections

Many of the databases are designed to promote tests available for sale.  Their listings of tests included can be helpful to know the names of tests to search in other databases.  For example, the website for Pruebas Publicadas en Español II (2018) lists all of the included tests. This is a good way to see whether a validated Spanish version of your test of interest is already available for purchase. 

APA PsycTests (from the American Psychological Association) 

Provides access to psychological measures, scales, surveys, and other instruments for the behavioral and social sciences. This is cross-linked by digital object identifier (DOI) to the PsycINFO database covered under the Searching Literature Databases with Test-Specific Fields section of this guide. 

To see what tests are available full-text in the database, do a search and then check the "APA PsycTests PDF" box under Limit your Results.  You can also limit to "Test Items Available" which indicates the test items are available in APA PsycTests.

There are several ways to search PsycTests:

1. Search by test name and select the TI Title field in the pull-down menu.

2. Search by keywords. Consider whether to limit your search with one or more of the many limit options as you move down the screen to focus your search by Age Group, Instrument Type, Language, Permissions, etc..

3. Search by using limits alone. One of the limit options is the APA PsycTests Classification. You can combine limits without using keywords to retrieve a list of relevant tests. 

4. Combine these strategies. 

Example: I am looking for a Spanish-language alcohol use assessment measure for teenagers. I select the Language limit for Spanish and limit to PsycTests Classification: 5000 Addiction, Gambling, and Substance Abuse/Use. Most of the results are not about alcohol, so I add the keyword alcohol to my search.  I then limit to Age Group: Adolescence (13-17 years). Of the relevant tests I retrieve, one has a PDF in PsycTests and the other does not, but I look at both records to see about fees and permissions. The presence of the measure as a PDF does not mean that it is free to use--permissions are often required.

The Test Collection at ETS is a database of more than 25,000 tests and other measurement devices. 

You should read the Terms of Use prior to searching the Test Link Database.  

Searching tips:

If you wish to combine search terms, such as searching for a test by a particular author, click on the Advanced Search tab. To begin a search select a field from the drop-down menu and then enter the text for which you want to search. ERIC descriptors are used to create subject terms.
The symbol for truncation is: *. 

To Search for a Downloadable Test

• Change the dropdown box to Order Information
• Type downloadable in the search box
• Click on Search
• Use the Advanced Search tab to combine the search for a downloadable test with another search parameter.

Each record has an "Availability" field that states who has the rights to distribute that test. Note: The address of the publisher or author at the time ETS received the test is listed in the "Availability" field of each test record. In many cases the address has changed, so you will need to locate the publisher's current address. Take note of the date of the test before contacting the publisher, as many tests are out of print and may not be available.

**If you are a test/instrument author and want to promote access to your instrument, there is contact information for requesting that your test be added to the collection.