A librarian's view of <scp>APA PsycTests</scp>, a database for psychological tests and measures

Librarians are well-versed in helping researchers find citations and other resources for their research projects. Bibliographic databases such as PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, and APA PsycInfo are popular resources. These databases, each with their own focus, provide information about indexed articles and links to their full texts. However, researchers who need to access psychological tests, scales, or inventories often find that while it is relatively easy to locate articles about a particular test, locating the instrument can sometimes prove challenging. APA PsycTests is one option for exploring the availability of tests, instruments, and scales. This viewpoint article explores the utility and reliability of APA PsycTests and similar databases in locating assessment instruments with associated psychometric data. This article is not an endorsement of any product but a first-hand account of a librarian's experience using various databases to locate psychometric assessment tools. Databases such as APA PsycInfo, Health and Psychosocial Instruments (HaPI), and Mental Measurements Yearbook with Tests in Print (MMY) are popular sources of information about behavioral measurement tools.1-3 APA PsycTests is a supplementary database that specializes in providing measurement instruments. Detailed metadata (e.g., number of test items, release date, and population) about the test is also included. APA PsycTests is often best used in conjunction with another database, as articles from other sources add a broader scope of information regarding test usage (e.g., using the test in a specific population or comparing the ease of administration of several tests). APA PsycTests was introduced in 2010.4 To be included, instruments (or the article from which the test is derived) must have appeared in the scholarly literature in a format such as journal articles, books, dissertations, etc. Some commercially available instruments may not be directly accessible. APA PsycTests can be a valuable source of information in areas where anatomy and psychology overlap, such as pain questionnaires, gender identity issues, and physical appearance as it correlates to mental state. The metadata provided by PsycTests includes a “Permissions” field, allowing users to determine whether a test may be used for teaching, clinical trials, or commercial use. Answer keys, scoring sheets, and test manuals are provided when available. Variations of standard scales can also be found within APA PsycTests, such as translations to another language (e.g., Interpersonal Behaviors Questionnaire–Spanish Physical Education Version) or scales intended for specific populations (e.g., Emotional Eating Scale–Adapted for Children and Adolescents; Short Form (EES-C)). The detailed information provided on each test's initial results page supports applicability determination. In addition to extensive bibliographic information, users are provided with information such as whether a test can be used for commercial purposes, its psychological construct, instrument type (e.g., battery, inventory, or survey), and the methodologies used to evaluate an instrument's properties (e.g., nomological validity, test reliability, or principal component analysis). Reliability and validity ratings are included when available (see Supplemental Information). If desired, researchers can refine their search by using field codes to limit results to any of these specific categories. Field codes include the limits mentioned above and many others. For example, a researcher can limit results to tests administered electronically or those that use a diary for data collection. Information beyond these specific fields is limited. As each field is limited to only a few sentences, APA PsycTests may not provide the robust information sought by some researchers. Librarians and researchers may want to search both APA PsycTests and an additional database to locate an instrument and learn about its context and properties.5 For example, a search for the John Henryism Active Coping Scale returns one result in APA PsycTests—the test itself. A search on the same topic in PubMed returns 26 citations, none of which contain the test instrument but instead provide a detailed look at some aspect of the scale. PubMed results include “Emergence of college students' John Henryism during schoolwork: An exploratory study” and “Is John Henryism a resilience factor in women experiencing intimate partner violence?” A search in APA PsycInfo returns 80 results with similar expansive explorations of the John Henryism Active Coping Scale, but not the actual instrument itself. As such, PsycTests can be a valuable supplement for locating psychological instruments that may be elusive in other databases. Another example of the utility of using two databases can be found in this test: “Autopsy-Based Learning in Medical Education Questionnaire”6 designed to examine students' perceptions of autopsy- and dissection-based teaching; this questionnaire collects demographic data from the student respondents, information on the number of learning opportunities and the type of learning opportunities (e.g., demonstration or participation), and the students' overall satisfaction with the course. APA PsycInfo provides the corresponding article “Autopsy-based learning is essential but underutilized in medical education: A questionnaire study.”7 The two databases work hand-in-hand: APA PyschInfo provides the article from which the questionnaire originated and PsycTests provides the instrument. The instruments in APA PsycTests come from various sources and must meet specific criteria for inclusion. They do not have to be commercially available but must have been published in the scholarly literature, whether as an article, a dissertation, a technical report, or a book. Authors who have developed a test may submit it for consideration. The submission must include a related citation. The specific criteria used by APA PsycTests for determining an instrument's inclusion in the database are unclear. Other psychology-related databases include Health and Psychosocial Instruments (HaPI) and Mental Measurements Yearbook with Tests in Print (MMY). These databases are similar to PsycInfo in that they provide comprehensive information about behavioral measurement tools but often do not include the test itself. MMY contains full-text reviews of test products. HaPI provides various information about behavioral measurement tools with a focus on medicine, nursing, and psychology.1 Both databases return articles with a psychology focus.1, 2 Searching in other databases will return articles that fit the focus of that particular database; for example, the Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) will return articles related to nursing, while a search in the Cochrane CENTRAL Register of Controlled Trials will return articles about clinical trials relevant to the scale of interest. Using APA PsycTests without including other databases could result in biased results, as APA PsycTests are focused on tests that are not commercially available.8, 9 Librarians and researchers will likely yield the best results using APA PsycTests in conjunction with another database. Psychology-focused tests can be found via other sources, including the NIH's Pain Consortium. The PainConsortium offers a list of free pain assessments.10 Many other websites have a psychology or personality focus; some of these are of dubious scholarly merit. One such website is the Open-Source Psychometrics Project, which provides a collection of interactive personality tests ranging from widely used scientific instruments to self-produced quizzes.11 These bibliographic databases (including APA PsycTests) can be accessed through paid subscription only, with the exception of PubMed.12 PubMed's search interface is freely available, but access to the article depends on the subscriptions offered by the institution. In summary, APA PsycTests is a helpful addition to the range of databases that researchers and librarians can use to locate psychological instruments and articles. Its strengths are its ability to provide access to psychological instruments, its wealth of metadata, and its ability to search by specific categories such as test type or administration. APA PsycTests are best used in conjunction with other databases to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the test instrument. Jennifer Westrick: Conceptualization; project administration; visualization; writing – original draft; writing – review and editing. The author would like to thank Adam Wilson, PhD at RUSH University Medical Center for his assistance with this paper. The author declares they have no conflicts of interest. Data S1. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.