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Finding instruments, measures, scales and tests in education, health, psychology, and social work

How to cite a test, measure, scale, or inventory

The following information is from: Publication manual of the American Psychological Association: The official guide to APA style (Seventh edition). (2020). American Psychological Association, pp. 340-341. 

Use the template shown below to construct references for tests, scales, inventories, or test database records:

Author Date Title Database URL
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (2020).

Title of the Test. 

Title of the Test Database Record [Database record].

Test Database Name. https://xxxxx

Manual for a test, scale, or inventory

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

Test, scale, or inventory itself

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

  • 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 the manual, not the test. 

Database record for a test

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. 

  • Test database records (e.g., records from PsycTESTS, the ETS TestLink collection, 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. 

Titles of tests and measures

The following information is from: Publication manual of the American Psychological Association: The official guide to APA style (Seventh edition). (2020). American Psychological Association, pp. 168.

Capitalize titles of published and unpublished tests and measures and their sub-scales. Do not capitalize words such as "test" and "scale" unless they are part of the test or subscale title. 

Examples:

  • Thematic Apperception Test
  • Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2
  • MMPI-2 Depression scale
  • Stroop Color-Word Interference Test
  • the authors' Mood Adjective Checklist
  • SF-36 Physical Functioning scale

Do not capitalize shortened, inexact, or generic titles of tests or measures. Such as:

  • a vocabulary test
  • Stroop-like color test

Need help?

Education (DISE)
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Humanities & Social Sciences Library
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Humanities & Social Sciences Library
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Psychology and Educational & Counselling Psychology
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Humanities & Social Sciences Library
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Humanities & Social Sciences Library
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