Tests and Measurements in the Behavioral and Social Sciences

Many professional organizations and disciplines have guidelines and criteria pertaining to the use of instruments and research subjects. For example, the American Psychological Association has guidelines about the rights and responsibilities of test takers and testing professionals (see link below).

St. Catherine University requires that research in which human subjects are tested or interviewed must be approved by the Institutional Review Board (see link below).

It depends on many factors. Using an instrument improperly, and without permission, can be a violation of copyright and the intellectual rights of the author or publisher. Even if not legally required, getting permission can sometimes be a way to lower your risks and avoid potential copyright disputes.

Fair Use

The Fair Use clause of U.S. copyright law allows for limited use of copyrighted materials. In the case of instruments, it may be acceptable to make a copy of a test to show in a class, in a PowerPoint, or for other educational use. Use the links below to weigh the four factors of fair use to determine if your use meets this standard.

If you use and/or reproduce material in your academic work beyond the limits of fair use without first gaining the copyright holder’s permission, you may be infringing on their intellectual property rights.

Who Owns the Copyright of a Test or Measurement?

Tests are generally the property of the author(s) who devised them. If an author of a test publishes their article in a journal or book, they may have transferred their copyright to the publisher. Permission to use the test will have to be obtained from the publisher. In some cases, an author may transfer copyright for an article/book to the publisher, but retain copyright for the test. In that case, permission will be required from both the author and the journal or book publisher.

How you obtain an instrument to use for a project depends upon whether the instrument has been published or not.

If the instrument is available from a commercial test publisher, the license and terms of use should be clear. Use the Tests in Print website on the main page to locate tests.

Some authors use a Creative Commons license to grant permission to others to freely use their work.

If the instrument has only been published in the literature, you need to ask for permission to use a test instrument in your research project from the copyright holder. If you are planning to publish your research, this is an essential consideration that you should discuss with your advisor and/or a librarian.

Note that tests that are in the public domain or created by the U.S. federal government do not need permission. 

Be aware that obtaining permission to use an instrument is not the same as obtaining permission to reproduce the instrument in its entirety in your research project appendix. It is important that you ask for separate permissions to do that.

Locating the Copyright Holder

If the publication where you found the test is recent, you can see the author's organizational affiliation or contact information there (or through an online directory of the institution's employees, or a department website). If the author is no longer affiliated with the institution, you will have to be creative in trying to locate them. Utilize LinkedIn, directories of professional associations, a web search, etc. Some authors have created their own websites.

The Columbia University Libraries has an excellent step-by-step guide, with model permission letters.

After you have received permission to use a test instrument, save a copy of your correspondence with the copyright holder and the agreement. This documentation allows you to demonstrate to others that you have the legal right to use the work. 

If you are a graduate researcher using third-party material, you will need to include documentation in your final research project (see box on the left). 

You may have failed to locate or not gotten a response from the copyright holder. Now what? Unfortunately, no matter how diligently you have tried to get permission, your efforts cannot completely eliminate the risk of infringement should you proceed to use the work.

Kenneth Crews, one of the country's leading copyright experts has this advice, "You need to balance the benefits of using that particular material in your given project against the risks that a copyright owner may see your project, identify the materials, and assert the owner’s legal claims against you. Numerous factual circumstances may be important in this evaluation. The “benefit” may depend upon the importance of your project and the importance of using that particular material. The “risks” may depend upon whether your project will be published or available on the Internet for widespread access. You ought to investigate whether the work is registered with the U.S. Copyright Office and weigh the thoroughness of your search for the copyright owner and your quest for appropriate permission.

Undertaking this analysis can be sensitive and must be advanced with caution and with careful documentation. You may be acting to reduce the risk of liability, but you have not eliminated liability. A copyright owner may still hold rights to the material and may still bring a legal action against you, based on copyright infringement. Your good faith efforts can be helpful, but they are not necessarily protection from legal liability."

Crews, K. D. & Pantalony, R. E. (n.d.). Treatment of orphan works. Columbia University Libraries. https://copyright.columbia.edu/basics/special-cases.html CC BY 4.0 license. 

Details for citing tests, scales, and inventories can be found in the APA manual (10.11, pp. 340-341).

When citing a test instrument, provide a citation for its supporting literature, such as the test manual or the journal article in which it appeared. If that is not available, cite a database record for the test or the test itself. If a manual is available, cite it rather than the test.

Example:

Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., & Brown, G. K. (1996). Beck Depression Inventory BDI-2 manual. Pearson. https://www.pearsonassessments.com/store/usassessments/en/Store/Professional-Assessments/Personality-%26-Biopsychosocial/Beck-Depression-Inventory/p/100000159.html