HSLS Pitt Public Health Liaison
HSLS Research & Instruction Librarian
Not all instruments are published.
Published tests are available from a test publisher, generally for a price, often with caveats due to sensitivity of the test. For example, a graduate student may need permission from an advisor to view a copy of the test.
Many tests remain unpublished AND unavailable. They are described in the literature, but acquiring the test is not possible due to a variety of reasons. It could be that a publisher never decided to pick it up or the test was not reliable or lacked validity. It could be there was a better test out there. And it could be that the test was part of a student dissertation project and, once the dissertation was completed, the student moved on to other things.
Just because a test is unpublished does not mean it is unavailable. This site covers several resources that have been developed to locate a wide variety of instruments. Some of the resources are more cryptic than others.
Regardless-- all tests are copyrighted. You are legally bound to follow copyright law and, at a minimum, must cite the test and test developer. Some tests are in the public domain, available online, and indicate they may be freely used. But you MUST CITE.
Below is a list of licensed databases (i.e. you have to be part of Pitt to gain access) that are useful for identifying tests/measures.
Produced by: American Psychological Association
Interface: ProQuest
Dates of coverage: 1806 to current
About: APA PsycInfo indexes and abstracts nearly 2,500 journal in the psychological/behavioral sciences, dating back to 1597 with comprehensive coverage beginning in the 1880's. Books, book chapters, and selected dissertations are also included in the PsycInfo database.
Produced by: American Psychological Association
Interface: EBSCOhost
Dates of coverage: 1806 to current
About: Read more about CINAHL
Produced by: Buros Center for Testing
Interface: EBSCOhost
Dates of coverage: 1985 to current
About: Produced by the Buros Institute of Mental Measurements at the University of Nebraska, the Mental Measurements Yearbook™ (MMY) provides users with a comprehensive guide to thousands of contemporary testing instruments.
Produced by: Behavioral Measurement Database Services (BMDS)
Interface: EBSCOhost
Dates of coverage: 1898 to current
About: This bibliographic database is abstracted from hundreds of leading journals in the health and social sciences. HaPI provides comprehensive information about behavioral measurement tools, including those related to medicine and nursing, as well as clinical, personality, social, and developmental psychology.
Produced by: Educational Testing Service
Produced by: Whitaker Institute for Innovation and Societal Change, National University of Ireland, Galway
More information: About us
Produced by: Addictions, Drug & Alcohol Institute, University of Washington
Produced by: US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Last updated: 2021
About: About this site
Produced by: Helen Hough, Systems Librarian, Hough@uta.edu with Burt King (through 2013)
Last updated: 2014
Produced by: Alan Reifman, Professor, Human Development and Family Studies, Texas Tech University
Last updated: August 2019