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Psychological Tests & Measures : Citing Tests & Measures

Citing Tests, Scales, & Inventories

  • To cite a test, scale, or inventory, provide a citation for its supporting literature (e.g., its manual, which may be an authored or edited book, or the journal article in which it was published).
  • If supporting literature is not available, it is also possible to cite the test itself and/or a database record for a test.
  • The title of a test, a scale, or an inventory should be capitalized using title case whenever it appears in a paper, even if the test title is italicize in the reference.
  • A test database name is included only for test database records.

Tellegen, A., & Ben-Porath, Y. S. (2011). Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–2 Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF): Technical Manual. Pearson.

Parenthetical citation: (Tellegen & Ben-Porath, 2011)

Narrative citation: Tellegen & Ben-Porath (2011)

  • Cite the test, scale, or inventory itself only if a manual or other supporting literature is not available to cite; if a manual is available for a test, cite teh manual, not the test.

Project Implicit. (n.d.). Gender-Science IAT. https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html

Parenthetical citation: (Project Implicit, n.d.)

Narrative citation: Project Implicit (n.d.)

  • Test database records (e.g., records from PsycTESTS or the CINAHL database) typically provide unique descriptive and administrative information about tests; cite the database record if you use this unique information. Otherwise, cite the test's supporting literature, if available.

Alonso-Tapia, J., Nieto, C., Merino-Tejedor, E., Huertas, J. A., & Ruiz, M. (2018). Situated Goals Questionnaire for University Students (SGQ-U, CMS-U) [Database record]. PsycTESTS. https://doi.org/10.1037/t66267-000

 

Cardoza, D., Morris, J. K., Myers, H. F., & Rodriguez, N. (2000). Acculturative Stress Inventory (ASI) (TC022704) [Database record]. ETS TestLink.

Parenthetical citations: (Alonso-Tapia et al., 2018; Cardoza et al., 2000)

Narrative citations: Alonso-Tapia et al. (2018) and Cardoza et al. (2000)

When Using Unpublished Tests

•You must:
•(a) contact the test author and request permission to use their test, and
•(b) secure their permission in writing if the material is copyrighted.
•Locating the author may be a difficult process, particularly if the measure is several years old, but try the following steps:
•Journal articles list the author’s organizational affiliation (or university) with a mailing address  
•Contact the publisher holding the copyright to the original material and request permission from the publisher. (Remember that APA holds the copyright to all material published in APA journals.)
•Make every effort to contact an author or copyright holder to secure permission before using any test or other instrument.

Citing Psychological Tests

Who (Author) - When (Date) - What (Title) [format note] - Where (Place)

•A Distinction on whether you are citing the database record for a test, or the test itself is made by writing [Database record] or [Measurement instrument] in square brackets after the test's title.
•Note that older citations for print tests (pre-internet) can look exactly like the citation for a book. This can be confusing when tracking down citations.
•Refer to the APA Style Manual

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