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Data studyIntelligence testing · Version 2026.11.1

Which IQ test do scientists use? The Wechsler scales, in 16,721 papers

We counted the papers that name each of 38 IQ and cognitive tests, 1990-2025, in OpenAlex and PubMed: which test leads, how fast Raven’s is catching up, and how long researchers keep using replaced editions.

About this study

Report type
Data study from two bibliographic indexes
Data
38 tests and editions, papers 1990-2025 in OpenAlex and PubMed, random samples of 20 papers for the riskiest tests
Compared with
Nine IQ-test families and two dementia screeners (MMSE, MoCA) as a contrast
Years
1990-2025; indexes queried on 5 November 2026
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (our dataset and charts)
Version
2026.11.1
Sources
10
Short answer

Researchers use the Wechsler scales more than any other IQ test: 16,721 papers name one, 63% of all mentions of a major IQ test, 1990-2025. Raven’s Progressive Matrices is second with 3,290 papers. IQ Metrics Research counted 38 named tests in OpenAlex and PubMed, and checked a random sample of hits. Counts show use, not accuracy.

38 testsWechsler 16,721 papers2 indexesCC BY 4.0
16,721papers name a Wechsler scale, the most-named IQ test family, 1990-2025
60%of 2020-25 papers naming a WAIS or WISC edition name a replaced one
7.6xmore papers name the MMSE dementia screener than the WAIS

01 Key findings

  1. The Wechsler scales are the most-named IQ tests: 16,721 papers, 63% of all test mentions. The WAIS alone is named in 7,581 papers and the WISC in 7,123.OpenAlex; IQ Metrics calculation
  2. Raven’s matrices climbed from 8% to 15% of IQ-test mentions between 1990-94 and 2020-25, while the Wechsler share slipped from 68% to 60%.OpenAlex; IQ Metrics calculation
  3. 60% of 2020-25 papers that name a WAIS or WISC edition name a replaced one. Researchers keep citing the edition they used before: WISC-V took more than 11 years to overtake WISC-IV.OpenAlex; IQ Metrics calculation
  4. The most-named cognitive test is not an IQ test. The MMSE dementia screener is named in 57,534 papers and the MoCA in 21,045, against 7,581 for the WAIS.OpenAlex; IQ Metrics calculation
  5. Two indexes agree on the order. OpenAlex and PubMed correlate at r = 0.96 across 38 tests, and 50% of sampled hits really name the test.IQ Metrics calculation

02 Statistics to quote

16,721

papers (1990-2025) whose title or abstract names a Wechsler scale: the most of any test family (OpenAlex).

IQ Metrics calculation
63%

of all mentions of nine IQ-test families in research papers are of a Wechsler scale (a paper naming two families counts in both).

IQ Metrics calculation
3,290

papers name Raven’s Progressive Matrices, the second most used family, up from 8% to 15% of mentions between 1990-94 and 2020-25.

IQ Metrics calculation
3x

more papers named an IQ test in 2025 (1,110) than in 1990 (390).

IQ Metrics calculation
7,581

papers name the WAIS, the single most-named line; the WISC follows with 7,123.

IQ Metrics calculation
60%

of 2020-25 papers that name a WAIS or WISC edition name one that had been replaced (1,213 of 2,034).

IQ Metrics calculation
57,534

papers name the MMSE, a dementia screener and not an IQ test: 7.6x the WAIS.

IQ Metrics calculation
r = 0.96

correlation between OpenAlex and PubMed counts across 38 tests (log scale).

IQ Metrics calculation
50%

of 117 sampled papers really name the test searched for; 48% name it as the measure used.

IQ Metrics calculation
46 of 50

countries with 40 or more papers have the Wechsler scales as the most-named of five families.

IQ Metrics calculation
11+ years

for WISC-V (released 2014) to overtake WISC-IV in papers.

IQ Metrics calculation
21,422

test-line mentions in the 22 lines we searched (a paper naming two lines counts twice).

IQ Metrics dataset

03 What is the most used IQ test in research?

The Wechsler scales are the most used IQ tests in research: 16,721 journal articles and reviews published 1990-2025 name one of them in the title or abstract, 63% of all mentions of nine IQ-test families (a paper naming two families counts twice) [1]. The WAIS, the adult scale, is named in 7,581 papers and the WISC, the children’s scale, in 7,123. We counted papers, not people, and a paper that names two test families is counted in both.

Raven’s Progressive Matrices comes second with 3,290 papers, then the reading-based estimates of earlier ability (NART, WTAR, TOPF) with 1,953, the Kaufman tests (1,188), Stanford-Binet (1,086) and Woodcock-Johnson (950). Below them sit the nonverbal and culture-fair tests and the brief and open tests such as the Wonderlic and the International Cognitive Ability Resource. The WAIS-5 and WAIS-IV explainer and the WISC-V explainer say what these tests measure; this page only counts who uses them.

Figure 1

The WAIS, the WISC and Raven's matrices hold the top three places in every period since 1990

Rank of the 13 test lines that reached the top 10 in some period, among 22 lines, by papers a year (1 = most papers). The WAIS and the WISC hold ranks 1 and 2 (swapping places) and Raven's matrices rank 3 in all seven periods; the WASI climbs from 16 to 4 and the Stanford-Binet falls from 4 to 7. OpenAlex papers naming the test in the title or abstract, ranks by IQ Metrics, as of 5 November 2026.

Raven's matricesWAISOther tests

Source: OpenAlex [1]; ranks by IQ Metrics

Data table
test line1990-9495-992000-0405-0910-1415-192020-25
WISC2222121
WAIS1111212
Raven's matrices3333333
WASI97644
NART7574455
WPPSI5668566
Stanford-Binet4489997
Woodcock-Johnson8845788
K-ABC / KABC-II6756879
TOPF10101010
Cattell Culture Fair91010
K-BIT / KBIT-29
Shipley10
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The order at the top has not changed in 35 years: the WAIS and the WISC take ranks 1 and 2 (the WISC leads in 2010-14 and 2020-25) and Raven’s matrices rank 3 by papers a year in every one of seven periods from 1990-94 to 2020-25 [1]. Further down the ranks move: the Stanford-Binet fell from 4 to 7. The abbreviated WASI (16 to 4) and the NART (7 to 5) also climb, but they are the least precise searches here (44% of sampled hits name the test for WASI and 22% of sampled hits name the test for NART), so read their ranks as ceilings. In 2020-25 the WAIS appeared in about 238 papers a year, the WISC in 273 and Raven’s in 158, up from 139, 105 and 32 in 1990-94 (IQ Metrics calculation).

Figure 2

Papers naming an IQ test grew about 3x between 1990 and 2025, and the Wechsler scales kept the biggest slice

Journal articles and reviews a year whose title or abstract names a test, by family, 1990-2025. A paper that names two families is counted in both. In 2025: 1,110 papers, 660 of them naming a Wechsler scale. OpenAlex, as of 5 November 2026.

Source: OpenAlex [1]; family totals by IQ Metrics

Data table
yearWechsler scalesStanford-BinetRaven's matricesWoodcock-JohnsonKaufman testsDAS and RIASNonverbal and culture-fairBrief and open testsReading-based estimatestotal
199025437251321512815390
1991236344561846514368
1992274262682026512379
19932503034131317610364
19942692528111707712376
19952841137132766315402
19963143739121954725462
19972831430121728735408
19982961252916114720427
19992733525172388525419
200030716342119414827450
200128013432125313714419
200228916722823517321474
200334215572135311734525
200434920802431412825553
200537217632432514831566
200641422673336413958656
200743611643035720645654
20085022389314711172071811
20095302697364113161247818
2010588251013731723864884
20115452613330338241270881
20125722813742436131095946
20136822912735439335801043
2014588361344639726557938
20157212615545568327841134
20166463414144541635131151098
20176623516136628245881081
2018648331133566123210711020
2019708371333956731131011125
20206314618240351223101211100
202167450131423915238801062
2022554641422837736584957
2023670431352925121671031040
2024618721551129132412981032
202566062203282553110861110
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The literature is much larger than it was. Papers naming an IQ test grew from 390 in 1990 to 1,110 in 2025, about 3 times, in all nine families together [1]; much of that growth is OpenAlex indexing more journals, so the shares in the next sections say more than the raw growth does. Counts show how often researchers name a test, not how good it is: a test can be common because it is old, cheap, available in many languages or required by a clinic’s rules.

IQ test (intelligence test)
A standardised set of tasks whose scores are compared with a norm group of the same age. The tests here are the ones researchers name as intelligence tests; dementia screeners are a separate contrast group.
Wechsler scales
The family of individually given tests by David Wechsler: the WAIS (adults), the WISC (children 6-16), the WPPSI (preschool) and the WASI (an abbreviated form). Each has several numbered editions.
Edition
A numbered revision of a test with new items and a new norm group, such as WAIS-III (1997), WAIS-IV (2008) and WAIS-5 (2024). The Flynn effect explainer says why norms are renewed.
Superseded edition
An edition that the publisher has replaced. Papers still use them because the data were collected earlier, a clinic keeps the old kit, or a study repeats an older design.
Raven's Progressive Matrices
A nonverbal test of abstract reasoning, with the Coloured, Standard and Advanced forms and Raven’s 2. See Raven’s scores explained.
Precision
The share of papers found by a search that really name the test. Our precision check reads a seeded random sample of 20 OpenAlex hits for each of the tests most at risk of false hits.
Screener
A short cognitive check for impairment, such as the MMSE or the MoCA. It is not an IQ test.
Paper
A journal article or review in OpenAlex, not retracted, with the test named in its title or abstract (stemmed phrase match).

04 What types of IQ tests are there, and how many papers use each?

Researchers name nine families of IQ test, and the Wechsler scales take 60 of every 100 recent mentions: of 100 papers published 2020-25 that name a test family, 60% name a Wechsler scale, 15% Raven’s matrices and 3% a Kaufman test [1]. The families differ in what they ask people to do, not just in who sells them.

Figure 3

Of every 100 recent IQ-test mentions in research papers, 60 are of a Wechsler scale

Each square is one percent of the 6,301 test mentions in papers published 2020-25 (nine families; a paper that names two counts twice). Wechsler 60, Raven's 15, Stanford-Binet 5, Woodcock-Johnson 3. OpenAlex, as of 5 November 2026.

Source: OpenAlex [1]; shares by IQ Metrics

Data table
familygrouplabeldetail
s001Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s002Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s003Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s004Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s005Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s006Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s007Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s008Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s009Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s010Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s011Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s012Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s013Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s014Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s015Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s016Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s017Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s018Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s019Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s020Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s021Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s022Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s023Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s024Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s025Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s026Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s027Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s028Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s029Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s030Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s031Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s032Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s033Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s034Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s035Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s036Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s037Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s038Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s039Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s040Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s041Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s042Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s043Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s044Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s045Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s046Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s047Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s048Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s049Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s050Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s051Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s052Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s053Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s054Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s055Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s056Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s057Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s058Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s059Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s060Wechsler scales (60)Wechsler scalesWechsler scales: 60.4% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (3,807 papers)
s061Raven's matrices (15)Raven's matricesRaven's matrices: 15.0% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (948 papers)
s062Raven's matrices (15)Raven's matricesRaven's matrices: 15.0% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (948 papers)
s063Raven's matrices (15)Raven's matricesRaven's matrices: 15.0% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (948 papers)
s064Raven's matrices (15)Raven's matricesRaven's matrices: 15.0% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (948 papers)
s065Raven's matrices (15)Raven's matricesRaven's matrices: 15.0% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (948 papers)
s066Raven's matrices (15)Raven's matricesRaven's matrices: 15.0% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (948 papers)
s067Raven's matrices (15)Raven's matricesRaven's matrices: 15.0% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (948 papers)
s068Raven's matrices (15)Raven's matricesRaven's matrices: 15.0% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (948 papers)
s069Raven's matrices (15)Raven's matricesRaven's matrices: 15.0% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (948 papers)
s070Raven's matrices (15)Raven's matricesRaven's matrices: 15.0% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (948 papers)
s071Raven's matrices (15)Raven's matricesRaven's matrices: 15.0% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (948 papers)
s072Raven's matrices (15)Raven's matricesRaven's matrices: 15.0% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (948 papers)
s073Raven's matrices (15)Raven's matricesRaven's matrices: 15.0% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (948 papers)
s074Raven's matrices (15)Raven's matricesRaven's matrices: 15.0% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (948 papers)
s075Raven's matrices (15)Raven's matricesRaven's matrices: 15.0% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (948 papers)
s076Reading-based estimates (9)Reading-based estimatesReading-based estimates: 9.1% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (572 papers)
s077Reading-based estimates (9)Reading-based estimatesReading-based estimates: 9.1% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (572 papers)
s078Reading-based estimates (9)Reading-based estimatesReading-based estimates: 9.1% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (572 papers)
s079Reading-based estimates (9)Reading-based estimatesReading-based estimates: 9.1% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (572 papers)
s080Reading-based estimates (9)Reading-based estimatesReading-based estimates: 9.1% of the 6,301 family mentions in 2020-25 (572 papers)

First 80 of 100 rows; the Data button gives all of them.

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  • Wechsler scales (WAIS, WISC, WPPSI, WASI): verbal and performance subtests, one test per age group, 16,721 papers.
  • Raven’s matrices (Coloured, Standard, Advanced, Raven’s 2): one nonverbal pattern task, 3,290 papers.
  • Stanford-Binet (Fourth and Fifth Editions): the oldest line, from Alfred Binet’s 1905 scale, 1,086 papers. See the Stanford-Binet IQ test guide.
  • Woodcock-Johnson (III, IV, V): cognitive and achievement batteries from one norm group, 950 papers. See the Woodcock-Johnson IQ test guide.
  • Kaufman tests (K-ABC and KABC-II, K-BIT and KBIT-2): a children’s battery and a brief test, 1,188 papers.
  • Nonverbal and culture-fair tests (Cattell Culture Fair, Leiter, UNIT, TONI): little or no language, 651 test mentions. See the Leiter-3 explainer and the culture-fair IQ test.
  • DAS and RIAS (Differential Ability Scales, Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales): school-psychology batteries, 245 mentions. See the RIAS-2 explainer.
  • Brief and open tests (Wonderlic, Shipley, Mill Hill, ICAR): short, group-given or openly available, 288 mentions. The Wonderlic conversion explainer covers the best-known.
  • Reading-based estimates (NART, WTAR, TOPF): a reading test used to estimate earlier ability after illness, 1,953 mentions.
Table 1

Every test in our dataset: papers in two indexes, 1990-2025

One row per test or edition; the papers naming it in the title or abstract in OpenAlex and PubMed (1990-2025), OpenAlex papers in 2020-25, the peak year, and the share of sampled papers (20 each, only for the riskiest tests; n/a otherwise) that really name the test and name it as the measure. "Line" = every edition together; "edition" = one named edition. Lines and editions overlap: do not add rows. as of 5 November 2026.

MMSE (screener)Dementia screenerline57,53426,40918,695202546%46%
MoCA (screener)Dementia screenerline200521,04510,44213,1472025n/an/a
WAIS (any edition)Wechsler scalesline20087,5813,5821,427201575%62%
WISC (any edition)Wechsler scalesline20147,1232,8611,639201375%75%
WAIS-RWechsler scalesedition19812,0961,1571191997n/an/a
WISC-IVWechsler scalesedition20031,8036796062016n/an/a
CANTABCognitive batteryline1,7921,1386332023n/an/a
WAIS-IIIWechsler scalesedition19971,7168172642015n/an/a
WISC-IIIWechsler scalesedition19911,6085731292010n/an/a
NARTReading-based estimatesline19821,369440398202022%22%
WPPSI (any edition)Wechsler scalesline20121,301718398202562%62%
WAIS-IVWechsler scalesedition20081,1565015682023n/an/a
WASI / WASI-IIWechsler scalesline20111,092381415201944%44%
Kaufman K-ABC / KABC-IIKaufman testsline2004965342147201835%30%
Raven’s Standard (SPM)Raven’s matricesedition19389002742342020n/an/a
Raven’s Coloured (CPM)Raven’s matricesedition8424103042025n/an/a
WISC-VWechsler scalesedition20144461563372025n/an/a
Woodcock-Johnson IIIWoodcock-Johnsonedition2001424145612015n/an/a
TOPFReading-based estimatesline2009420511272023n/an/a
Raven’s Advanced (APM)Raven’s matricesedition412139882011n/an/a
NIH Toolbox CognitionCognitive batteryline20123021952262023n/an/a
Cattell Culture FairNonverbal and culture-fairline23882602025n/an/a
Leiter scalesNonverbal and culture-fairline2013230121572013n/an/a
Kaufman K-BIT / KBIT-2Kaufman testsline2004223109432018n/an/a
Differential Ability ScalesDAS and RIASline200718889552021n/an/a
WTARReading-based estimatesline2001164112472023n/an/a
TONI-4Nonverbal and culture-fairline20101368352018n/an/a
WonderlicBrief and open testsline12128122008n/an/a
Woodcock-Johnson IVWoodcock-Johnsonedition201410535592021n/an/a
Shipley scalesBrief and open testsline20099110152008n/an/a
Stanford-Binet 4Stanford-Binetedition1986802701990n/an/a
RIAS / RIAS-2DAS and RIASline2015571792016n/an/a
Stanford-Binet 5Stanford-Binetedition20034823242025n/an/a
UNIT / UNIT2Nonverbal and culture-fairline2016471212008n/an/a
Mill Hill VocabularyBrief and open testsline462482008n/an/a
ICAR (open)Brief and open testsline2014300172016n/an/a
Raven’s 2Raven’s matricesedition2018246162025n/an/a
WAIS-5Wechsler scalesedition2024174112025n/an/a

Source:

05 Do researchers use Wechsler tests or Raven's Progressive Matrices more?

Wechsler tests are used far more than Raven’s Progressive Matrices: 16,721 papers against 3,290, a ratio of 5.1 to 1 over 1990-2025, down from 8.1 to 1 in 1990-94 [1]. The gap is narrowing because the number of Raven’s papers grew faster than the number of Wechsler papers (IQ Metrics calculation).

Figure 4

Raven's matrices went from 8% to 15% of IQ-test mentions; the Wechsler scales slipped from 68% to 60%

Share of all mentions of the nine families (a paper naming two counts in both), 1990-94 against 2020-25. Wechsler 68.3% to 60.4%, Raven's 8.4% to 15.1%, Stanford-Binet 8.1% to 5.3%. OpenAlex, as of 5 November 2026; shares by IQ Metrics.

Raven's matricesWechsler scalesOther families

Source: OpenAlex [1]; shares by IQ Metrics

Data table
family1990-942020-25
Wechsler scales68.360.4
Stanford-Binet8.15.3
Raven's matrices8.415.1
Woodcock-Johnson2.72.8
Kaufman tests4.73
DAS and RIAS0.61
Nonverbal and culture-fair22.4
Brief and open tests1.60.8
Reading-based estimates3.49.1
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In 2020-25 the ratio is 4.0 to 1. The shift is not a story about one test replacing another. Raven’s matrices are used where researchers need a reasoning measure that needs no language, across countries and ages, and in psychology and neuroscience labs that cannot afford a clinician-administered battery [1]. The Wechsler scales dominate medicine: 41% of the Wechsler papers are in medicine, 22% of the Raven’s papers (next section). Read what a Raven’s score means before comparing the two on one person.

Figure 5

Year by year: Wechsler share down from 65% to 59%, Raven's up from 6% to 18%

Each family's share of all mentions of the nine families, per publication year 1990-2025; a paper naming two families counts in both. Small years are noisy: 1990 has 390 papers in all. OpenAlex, as of 5 November 2026.

Wechsler scalesRaven's matricesStanford-BinetWoodcock-Johnson

Source: OpenAlex [1]; shares by IQ Metrics

Data table
xWechsler scalesRaven's matricesStanford-BinetWoodcock-Johnson
'9065.16.49.53.3
'9164.112.29.21.6
'9272.36.96.92.1
'9368.79.38.23.6
'9471.57.56.72.9
'9570.79.22.73.2
'96688.482.6
'9769.47.33.42.9
'9869.312.22.82.1
'9965.268.34.1
'0068.27.63.64.7
'0166.810.33.15
'026115.23.45.9
'0365.110.92.94
'0463.114.53.64.3
'0565.711.134.2
'0663.110.23.45
'0766.79.81.74.6
'0861.9112.83.8
'0964.811.93.24.4
'1066.511.42.84.2
'1161.915.133.4
'1260.514.534.4
'1365.412.22.83.4
'1462.714.33.84.9
'1563.613.72.34
'1658.812.83.14
'1761.214.93.23.3
'1863.511.13.23.4
'1962.911.83.33.5
'2057.416.64.23.6
'2163.512.34.74
'2257.914.86.72.9
'2364.4134.12.8
'2459.91571.1
'2559.518.35.62.5
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06 How long do researchers keep using an old edition of an IQ test?

Old editions linger: of the 2020-25 papers that name a WAIS or WISC edition, 60% name one that had already been replaced [1]. WISC-V, released in 2014, had not overtaken WISC-IV by 2025; WAIS-IV, released in 2008, overtook WAIS-III in 2017, 9 years later. Researchers cite the edition their data were collected with, so a new edition takes years to reach the literature, then years more to push the old one out.

Figure 6

When each edition came out: a new edition arrives every 11 to 17 years

Release year of each edition of the four test lines with named editions (publisher catalogues), and the span in which it was the newest. WAIS-R (1981) and WISC-III (1991) start before our window. Raven's 2 (2018) replaces the older Raven forms in the publisher's catalogue; Stanford-Binet 4 dates from 1986. as of 5 November 2026.

Source: Publisher catalogues [5] [6]; spans by IQ Metrics

Data table
editiontypefromtolabeldetail
WAIS (adults)span19901997WAIS-R
WAIS (adults)span19972008WAIS-III
WAIS (adults)span20082024WAIS-IV
WAIS (adults)span2024nowWAIS-5
WAIS (adults)event1997WAIS-III (1997)WAIS-III released in 1997
WAIS (adults)event2008WAIS-IV (2008)WAIS-IV released in 2008
WAIS (adults)event2024WAIS-5 (2024)WAIS-5 released in 2024
WISC (children)span19912003WISC-III
WISC (children)span20032014WISC-IV
WISC (children)span2014nowWISC-V
WISC (children)event1991WISC-III (1991)WISC-III released in 1991
WISC (children)event2003WISC-IV (2003)WISC-IV released in 2003
WISC (children)event2014WISC-V (2014)WISC-V released in 2014
Stanford-Binetspan19902003Stanford-Binet 4
Stanford-Binetspan2003nowStanford-Binet 5
Stanford-Binetevent2003Stanford-Binet 5 (2003)Stanford-Binet 5 released in 2003
Woodcock-Johnsonspan20012014Woodcock-Johnson III
Woodcock-Johnsonspan2014nowWoodcock-Johnson IV
Woodcock-Johnsonevent2001Woodcock-Johnson III (2001)Woodcock-Johnson III released in 2001
Woodcock-Johnsonevent2014Woodcock-Johnson IV (2014)Woodcock-Johnson IV released in 2014
Raven'sspan2018nowRaven's 2
Raven'sevent2018Raven's 2 (2018)Raven's 2 released in 2018
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Figure 7

A new edition took 9 to 18 years to overtake the old one in papers; WISC-V has not after 11

For each edition pair: the year the newer edition was released, and the first year its papers outnumbered the older edition's (at least 5 papers). Where the newer edition had not overtaken by 2025 the dot sits at 2025. Papers naming the edition by name only; as of 5 November 2026.

Newer edition releasedNewer edition overtakes

Year

Source: OpenAlex [1], publisher catalogues [5] [6]; lag by IQ Metrics

Data table
edition pairNewer edition releasedNewer edition overtakes
WAIS-III replaces WAIS-R19972007
WAIS-IV replaces WAIS-III20082017
WAIS-5 replaces WAIS-IV (not yet by 2025)20242025
WISC-IV replaces WISC-III20032012
WISC-V replaces WISC-IV (not yet by 2025)20142025
Stanford-Binet 5 replaces Stanford-Binet 420032021
Woodcock-Johnson IV replaces Woodcock-Johnson III20142023
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By test line, the share of 2020-25 papers that name a replaced edition is: WAIS 50%, WISC 69%, Stanford-Binet 0%, Woodcock-Johnson 51% (IQ Metrics calculation: for each year, an edition counts as replaced once a newer one has been out for a full year). WAIS-5 was released in 2024, so it appears in only 17 papers by the end of 2025, and WAIS-IV, the edition most clinics still use, is named in 568 [1] [5]. The same pattern is why test norms matter: a score from a replaced edition is compared with an older norm group. See the IQ score over time tool and the explainer on why norms expire.

The WAIS pair shows the pattern in numbers: WAIS-IV, released in 2008, is named in 568 papers in 2020-25 and WAIS-III, its predecessor, in 264, so the edition from 1997 still appears in about one paper for every 2.2 that name its successor [1] [5]. For the WISC the older WISC-IV (606 papers in 2020-25) is still ahead of WISC-V (337) eleven years after the newer test appeared. A replaced edition is not an error: a longitudinal study that began in 2005 must keep testing with what it started with.

Table 2

Edition by edition: when the new one overtook the old one in papers

Release year of the newer edition, the first year it had more papers than the older one (at least 5), years that took, and papers naming each in 2020-25. "Not yet": the newer edition has not overtaken by 2025 (the figure is the years since release). OpenAlex, as of 5 November 2026.

WAIS-IIIWAIS-R199720071011926431%
WAIS-IVWAIS-III20082017926456832%
WAIS-5WAIS-IV2024not yet1+5681198%
WISC-IVWISC-III20032012912960618%
WISC-VWISC-IV2014not yet11+60633764%
Stanford-Binet 5Stanford-Binet 420032021180240%
Woodcock-Johnson IVWoodcock-Johnson III201420239615951%

Source:

07 Which fields of research use IQ tests?

Medicine and psychology use IQ tests most: 41% of the Wechsler papers are in medicine and 34% in psychology, while for Raven’s matrices psychology leads with 48% [1]. Neuroscience adds 4 to 12% of each family’s papers. OpenAlex assigns each paper one primary topic, so the shares add to 100 over all fields and the figure shows only the eight largest.

Figure 8

Medicine and psychology hold 75% of the Wechsler papers and 70% of the Raven's papers

Share of each test family's papers by OpenAlex field (the paper's primary topic), the 8 largest fields; Wechsler papers: medicine 41.3%, psychology 33.6%. Columns do not add to 100 because smaller fields are left out. OpenAlex, as of 5 November 2026.

Source: OpenAlex [1]; shares by IQ Metrics

Data table
fieldWechslerStanford-BinetRaven'sWoodcock-JohnsonKaufmanMMSE and MoCA (contrast)
Medicine41.334.622.120.127.170.1
Psychology33.6364847.242.63
Neuroscience7.312.19.24.37.55.8
Engineering0.60.40.80.11.37.8
Health Professions0.80.311.30.83.7
Computer Science10.21.80.60.83.1
Social Sciences3.23.45.113.25.21.2
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology2.65.70.90.81.51
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Figure 9

Medicine feeds the Wechsler scales most; psychology feeds Raven's, Woodcock-Johnson and the Kaufman tests

Papers naming each of five test families, by the field of the paper (left) and the family (right). Width = papers; a paper naming two families appears twice. Six fields and "other fields". OpenAlex, as of 5 November 2026.

Source: OpenAlex [1]; flows by IQ Metrics

Data table
fromtofield
MedicineWechsler scales6904
PsychologyWechsler scales5607
NeuroscienceWechsler scales1225
EngineeringWechsler scales105
Health ProfessionsWechsler scales126
Computer ScienceWechsler scales166
Other fieldsWechsler scales2572
MedicineStanford-Binet375
PsychologyStanford-Binet391
NeuroscienceStanford-Binet131
EngineeringStanford-Binet4
Health ProfessionsStanford-Binet3
Computer ScienceStanford-Binet2
Other fieldsStanford-Binet179
MedicineRaven's matrices726
PsychologyRaven's matrices1580
NeuroscienceRaven's matrices303
EngineeringRaven's matrices25
Health ProfessionsRaven's matrices32
Computer ScienceRaven's matrices58
Other fieldsRaven's matrices565
MedicineWoodcock-Johnson191
PsychologyWoodcock-Johnson448
NeuroscienceWoodcock-Johnson41
EngineeringWoodcock-Johnson1
Health ProfessionsWoodcock-Johnson12
Computer ScienceWoodcock-Johnson6
Other fieldsWoodcock-Johnson251
MedicineKaufman tests320
PsychologyKaufman tests503
NeuroscienceKaufman tests88
EngineeringKaufman tests15
Health ProfessionsKaufman tests9
Computer ScienceKaufman tests10
Other fieldsKaufman tests235
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The mix explains why one test leads. A Wechsler scale is the instrument a clinician or a hospital study already has; Raven’s, Woodcock-Johnson and Kaufman papers sit mostly in psychology; the MMSE and MoCA papers (a contrast group, not IQ tests) are 70% medicine. We assign no field ourselves: the column totals are OpenAlex’s classification of each paper, and a paper that mentions a test in passing is classified by its main subject, not by the test.

08 Which countries use which IQ tests?

Authors in the United States account for 27% of the Wechsler papers and 14% of the Raven’s papers [1]. In 46 of the 50 countries with at least 40 papers on the five families, the Wechsler scales are the most-named; Raven’s share of those papers runs from 6% to 57%. Countries here are those of the authors’ institutions, and a paper with authors in two countries counts for both.

Figure 10

In 46 of 50 countries with 40 or more papers the Wechsler scales lead; Raven's share runs from 6% to 57%

Raven's matrices as a share of all mentions of five test families (Wechsler, Stanford-Binet, Raven's, Woodcock-Johnson, Kaufman) in papers, by country of the authors' institutions, 1990-2025; countries with 40 or more mentions. A paper naming two families counts twice, and a paper with authors in two countries counts for both. OpenAlex, as of 5 November 2026.

25% or more15 to 25%8 to 15%Under 8%Under 40 papers

Source: OpenAlex [1]; shares by IQ Metrics

Data table
countryiso2value
United StatesUS8.2
United KingdomGB25
ChinaCN14.9
CanadaCA10.1
JapanJP12
ItalyIT32.7
AustraliaAU19.7
SpainES10.9
BrazilBR11
GermanyDE20.9
FranceFR10.8
NetherlandsNL21.9
IranIR16.5
EgyptEG11.8
SwedenSE14.1
IndonesiaID19.1
TurkeyTR12.6
IndiaIN43.7
South KoreaKR7.7
NorwayNO7.6
PolandPL23.2
FinlandFI12.2
TaiwanTW7.7
SwitzerlandCH17.1
BelgiumBE19.3
RussiaRU43.4
DenmarkDK10
MexicoMX8.4
IsraelIL24.3
ColombiaCO5.5
South AfricaZA26.2
GreeceGR28.1
PortugalPT25.9
New ZealandNZ17.6
ArgentinaAR11.9
ChileCL21.2
AustriaAT31.8
Saudi ArabiaSA47.1
ThailandTH25.3
PakistanPK42.3
IrelandIE16.9
EcuadorEC12.7
MalaysiaMY44.6
Hong KongHK30.6
SerbiaRS56.7
PeruPE11.3
HungaryHU20.8
NigeriaNG51.1
CzechiaCZ23.3
SingaporeSG11.9
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Figure 11

The United States writes 27% of the Wechsler papers and 14% of the Raven's papers

Share of each test family's papers by country of the authors' institutions, the 12 countries with the most papers on the five test families. Wechsler papers on the left, Raven's on the right; shares add to more than 100 over all countries because a paper with authors in two countries counts for both. OpenAlex, as of 5 November 2026.

Source: OpenAlex [1]; shares by IQ Metrics

Data table
countryWechsler papersRaven's papers
United States27.414.3
United Kingdom5.38.8
China5.34.2
Canada4.82.8
Japan4.93.2
Italy3.27.1
Australia2.83.8
Spain3.62.1
Brazil3.62.1
Germany2.63.9
France2.81.6
Netherlands2.53.3
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The map does not rank countries by anything: it shows which instrument their researchers name, and no country has “an IQ” here. The countries where the Wechsler scales are not the most-named family are Egypt: Stanford-Binet (12% Raven’s, 39% Wechsler); Saudi Arabia: Raven’s matrices (47% Raven’s, 35% Wechsler); Serbia: Raven’s matrices (57% Raven’s, 43% Wechsler); Nigeria: Raven’s matrices (51% Raven’s, 40% Wechsler) [1]. Raven’s asks for no spoken language, which may suit research with several languages, but our data do not test that. Other national tests exist and are named in local-language papers that OpenAlex indexes less well, a gap we list under limits.

09 Are the MMSE and the MoCA IQ tests?

No: the MMSE and the MoCA are dementia screeners, and they are named in more papers than every IQ test, 57,534 papers for the MMSE and 21,045 for the MoCA against 7,581 for the WAIS [1] [8] [9]. We counted them as a contrast group so the page does not mistake “cognitive test” for “IQ test”. The MoCA, published in 2005, went from 21 papers a year in 1995 to about 2,191 in 2025; read what a MoCA score means and how it differs from IQ.

Figure 12

Age does not decide use: the oldest tests are not the most named

Each bubble is a test line with a publication year we could read: year of the first edition against papers naming it in 1990-2025 (log scale); area = papers in 2020-25. Tests without a first year in the publisher record are left out. OpenAlex, as of 5 November 2026.

IQ testCognitive batteryDementia screener (not IQ)
Papers 2020-25101001,000

Source: OpenAlex [1], first years from [5] [6] [8] [9]; chart by IQ Metrics

Data table
labelfirst_yearpapers_1990_2025grouppapers_2020_25
WPPSI (any edition)19671301iq398
WASI / WASI-II19991092iq415
WAIS (any edition)19557581iq1427
WISC (any edition)19497123iq1639
UNIT / UNIT2199847iq1
Kaufman K-ABC / KABC-II1983965iq147
Kaufman K-BIT / KBIT-21990223iq43
Differential Ability Scales1990188iq55
RIAS / RIAS-2200357iq9
ICAR (open)201430iq17
NART19821369iq398
WTAR2001164iq47
TOPF2009420iq127
NIH Toolbox Cognition2012302battery226
MMSE (screener)197557534screener18695
MoCA (screener)200521045screener13147
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10 Which IQ test is the most accurate?

No count on this page says which IQ test is the most accurate: the Wechsler scales are the most used, and being used most is not the same as measuring best. A test is named often because of its history, its price, the languages it exists in, its licence and what clinics are trained on. Accuracy is judged by reliability and validity studies of each test, and by how recent its norms are; the manuals report both, and we copy neither.

What would answer the accuracy question is a different kind of data: how consistent a test’s scores are when the same person is tested twice, how well they predict school or work outcomes, and how closely the norm group matches today’s population. Those facts sit in each publisher’s technical manual and in independent validation studies, and they differ by age group and by purpose. A test used by few researchers can be excellent for one job, and a test used by many can be a poor fit for a given person. For the tests behind the biggest bars here, read the Stanford-Binet guide and the Woodcock-Johnson guide, which cover what each reports.

Usage is not accuracy. See how you reason.

Our IQ test measures how you reason with patterns and compares your result with adults, with a percentile.

Take the IQ test

11 How reliable are these counts?

The counts are reliable for ranking tests and unreliable for exact totals: OpenAlex and PubMed rank the 38 tests the same way (r = 0.96 on a log scale; Spearman 0.97), while the totals differ by index [1] [4]. Across tests with 100 or more OpenAlex papers, PubMed finds a median of 0.40 times the OpenAlex count, because OpenAlex also indexes journals outside biomedicine. Europe PMC, the third index planned, was unavailable on the day (HTTP 503 from its search service) and is not used [3].

Counts for a short acronym are the least certain. In the sampled papers the three tests with the lowest share that really name the test are NART (22%), Kaufman K-ABC / KABC-II (35%), WASI / WASI-II (44%); their counts should be read as upper bounds [1]. Multi-word names such as “Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children” are far safer, which is why the edition counts, built from full names and numbered spellings, are the ones we trust most for the lag figures.

Figure 13

The indexes agree on the order of the tests: r = 0.96 to 0.96 across 38 tests

Pearson correlations of the log10 paper counts of 38 tests in OpenAlex, PubMed (all years 1990-2025 and 2020-25). Linked, not cause: a test named often is named often everywhere. as of 5 November 2026.

Source: OpenAlex [1], PubMed [4]; correlations by IQ Metrics

Data table
measureOpenAlex, all yearsPubMed, all yearsOpenAlex, 2020-25PubMed, 2020-25
OpenAlex, all years110.90.9
PubMed, all years110.90.9
OpenAlex, 2020-250.90.911
PubMed, 2020-250.90.911
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Figure 14

OpenAlex and PubMed count different numbers of papers per test, in much the same order

Papers naming each of the 14 most-named tests (1990-2025): OpenAlex against PubMed (title or abstract). as of 5 November 2026.

OpenAlexPubMed

Papers, 1990-2025

Source: OpenAlex [1], PubMed [4]; calculation by IQ Metrics

Data table
testOpenAlexPubMed
WAIS (any edition)75813582
WISC (any edition)71232861
NART1369440
WPPSI (any edition)1301718
WASI / WASI-II1092381
Kaufman K-ABC / KABC-II965342
Raven's Standard (SPM)900274
Raven's Coloured (CPM)842410
TOPF42051
Cattell Culture Fair23882
Leiter scales230121
Kaufman K-BIT / KBIT-2223109
Differential Ability Scales18889
WTAR164112
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The check that matters more is precision. We drew a seeded random sample of 20 OpenAlex hits for each of the 7 tests most at risk of false hits (the Wechsler lines, the WASI, the NART and the Kaufman battery; the rest are not sampled), read each title and abstract with a rule that looks for the test name and for a use word beside it, and read the doubtful ones by hand: 50% of the 117 papers really name the test searched for and 48% name it as the measure used [1]. Acronyms are the weak point: “WAIS” is also the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, so every WAIS count excludes papers that mention an ice sheet or Antarctica. The table lists the share per test; we adjusted no count with it.

Figure 15

Of 117 papers we read, 50% name the test and 48% name it as the measure used

A seeded random sample of 20 OpenAlex hits for each of the 7 tests most at risk of false hits, read by a scripted rule and the doubtful ones by hand: false hit (the words are not the test), named otherwise, and named as the measure. as of 5 November 2026.

Source: OpenAlex [1]; check by IQ Metrics

Data table
stagecountpct_of_firstpct_of_previous
Papers in the random samples117100100
Name the test (not a false hit)5950.450.4
Name it as the measure used5647.994.9
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12 Every test and edition in our dataset

The table above lists all 38 tests and editions with their paper counts in two indexes; sort any column. Test families and edition years come from publisher catalogues [5] [6], and are facts only: no items, norm tables or manual text were copied.

Each row is one test or one edition; “OpenAlex 2020-25” is the recent slice, and “Name the test” and “Used as measure” come from the sampled papers (n = 20 each; n/a where PubMed was not sampled). The dataset CSV carries the same columns plus the search phrases, so every count can be re-run.

13 How we built the dataset

  1. 01

    List the tests and the search phrases

    38 tests and editions in 9 families, each with full names, abbreviations and edition spellings (data/tests.tsv). Phrases that mean something else are dropped or excluded: “WAIS” excludes ice-sheet papers, and acronyms such as RIAS, KBIT and ICAR were dropped after a first count showed they matched agriculture, kilobits and other fields.

  2. 02

    Count in two independent indexes

    OpenAlex (journal articles and reviews 1990-2025, not retracted, title or abstract, stemmed phrases, year by year) and PubMed (title or abstract), each queried on 5 November 2026, every response cached.

  3. 03

    Check precision

    Twenty random OpenAlex hits for each of the tests most at risk (the OpenAlex daily budget for a key-less user limited how many we could sample), labelled false hit, named otherwise, or named as the measure by a scripted rule, with the doubtful ones read by hand. With 20 papers a share of 90% has a 95% interval of about 70 to 97%.

  4. 04

    Split and compare

    OpenAlex gives each paper a field and the countries of its authors’ institutions. We counted by test family, compared editions by year and compared the two indexes by correlation.

  5. 05

    Keep what we cannot confirm out

    Edition years come from publisher catalogues and are left empty where we did not read one. No count was estimated or filled in.

Read every number with these in mind

  • Title and abstract only. A paper that names the test only in its methods section is missed, so counts are lower bounds on use; the sources agree on the order, not on the level.
  • Papers, not studies or people. One paper naming two test families counts twice, and a paper that names the test only to criticise or compare it also counts.
  • English-language indexes. Papers in other languages, doctoral theses and test-company research are underrepresented, which matters for tests common in other countries.
  • The edition counts depend on how authors write: many papers say “WAIS” with no edition, so edition counts are a floor and the lag figures are approximate to the year.
  • Usage is not accuracy, quality or fairness: no figure on this page says which test measures best, and none says what a score means for one person.
  • Precision was sampled for only a few tests (those most at risk of false hits), 20 papers each; the others are not sampled, and small samples have wide intervals. The scripted rule is conservative about “used” and generous about “named”.

Sources

  1. OurResearch (OpenAlex). OpenAlex: bibliographic index of scholarly works (API api.openalex.org, queries run 5 November 2026; Priem J, Piwowar H, Orr R: OpenAlex: a fully-open index of scholarly works, authors, venues, institutions, and concepts, arXiv:2205.01833, 2022). 2026. doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2205.01833CC0 1.0 (OpenAlex data)
  2. OurResearch (OpenAlex). OpenAlex technical documentation: search in title and abstract (stemmed phrases), group_by, work types. 2026. docs.openalex.orgDocumentation, cited for how the search works
  3. Europe PMC (EMBL-EBI). Europe PMC: REST API search (www.ebi.ac.uk/europepmc/webservices/rest/search), queries run 5 November 2026. 2026. europepmc.org/RestfulWebServiceEurope PMC terms of use; hit counts only (facts), no text copied
  4. NCBI / NLM. National Library of Medicine: PubMed and the Entrez Programming Utilities (E-utilities, esearch and efetch), queries run 5 November 2026. 2026. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK25497NLM data and documentation (US government, public domain); abstracts belong to their publishers and were read for the precision check, none is reproduced
  5. Pearson Assessments. Pearson Assessments: product and catalogue pages for the Wechsler scales (WAIS, WISC, WPPSI, WASI), Raven's 2, Kaufman tests, DAS-II, WTAR and TOPF (edition names and publication years as the publisher prints them). 2026. www.pearsonassessments.comPublisher catalogue; facts only (names, editions, years). No items, no manual pages, no norm tables
  6. Riverside Insights. Riverside Insights: product pages for the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales and the Woodcock-Johnson tests, and the UNIT (edition names and years as printed). 2026. www.riversideinsights.comPublisher catalogue; facts only (names, editions, years)
  7. PAR, PRO-ED, Stoelting, WPS, NIH, Cambridge Cognition. Publisher catalogues for RIAS-2 (PAR), TONI-4 (PRO-ED), Leiter-3 (Stoelting), Shipley-2 (WPS), the NIH Toolbox (HealthMeasures, Northwestern University) and CANTAB (Cambridge Cognition). 2026. www.healthmeasures.net/explore-measurement-systems/nih-toolboxPublisher and public pages; facts only (names, editions, years)
  8. Journal of Psychiatric Research (Elsevier). Folstein MF, Folstein SE, McHugh PR: "Mini-mental state": a practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. Journal of Psychiatric Research 1975;12(3):189-198. 1975. doi.org/10.1016/0022-3956(75)90026-6Facts cited (year of the original paper)
  9. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (Wiley). Nasreddine ZS, Phillips NA, Bedirian V, et al.: The Montreal Cognitive Assessment, MoCA: a brief screening tool for mild cognitive impairment. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2005;53(4):695-699. 2005. doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-5415.2005.53221.xFacts cited (year of the original paper)
  10. Intelligence (Elsevier). Condon DM, Revelle W: The International Cognitive Ability Resource: development and initial validation of a public-domain measure. Intelligence 2014;43:52-64. 2014. doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2014.01.004Facts cited (year and the public-domain status of ICAR)

Version history

  • 2026.115 November 2026First release. Next update due May 2027, or sooner when a new edition of a major test is released (WISC-V successor, WJ V uptake) or an index changes its coverage.
  • 2026.11.15 November 2026Corrected the UNIT2 edition year to 2016 and its publisher to PRO-ED (the first release said 2015 / Riverside; Buros record and PRO-ED catalogue). The dataset file now carries the date in its name. No count changed. Europe PMC counts and a precision check for every test will follow when the services are back.
Leon Falkner

Leon Falkner, Data & Research Analyst. Leon owns the arithmetic on IQ Metrics: the percentile tables, the score converter and the figures in everyone else's drafts. On the research desk Leon pulls the data, builds each index and writes the method. More about Leon.

Questions

What is the most used IQ test?

The Wechsler scales: 16,721 papers published 1990-2025 name a WAIS, WISC, WPPSI or WASI in the title or abstract, about 63% of all mentions of a major IQ-test family. Raven's Progressive Matrices is second with 3,290 (OpenAlex).

What is the most common IQ test used by psychologists and researchers?

The Wechsler scales, in 60% of recent papers (2020-25): the WAIS for adults (7,581 papers 1990-2025) and the WISC for children (7,123). Researchers outside clinics also use Raven's Progressive Matrices (3,290 papers).

What are the types of IQ tests?

Researchers name nine families: the Wechsler scales, Raven's matrices, Stanford-Binet, Woodcock-Johnson, Kaufman tests, nonverbal and culture-fair tests, DAS and RIAS, brief and open tests, and reading-based estimates of earlier ability.

How many papers use Raven's Progressive Matrices?

3,290 papers published 1990-2025 name Raven's Progressive Matrices in the title or abstract (OpenAlex). Its share of all IQ-test-family mentions rose from 8% in 1990-94 to 15% in 2020-25.

How many papers use the WAIS or WISC?

The WAIS is named in 7,581 papers and the WISC in 7,123, 1990-2025 (OpenAlex; a paper can name both). PubMed finds 3,582 and 2,861 with its own title and abstract search.

Do researchers still use old editions such as WAIS-III?

Yes: 60% of the 2020-25 papers that name a WAIS or WISC edition name a replaced one. WAIS-III is still named in 264 papers in 2020-25, against 568 for WAIS-IV (OpenAlex).

Which IQ test is the most accurate?

Usage does not answer that: the most used test is not necessarily the most accurate. Accuracy comes from reliability and validity studies and from how recent a test's norms are; this study counts papers, not accuracy.

Is the MMSE an IQ test?

No: the MMSE is a dementia screener, though it is named in 57,534 papers, 7.6 times as many as the WAIS. The MoCA is another screener, named in 21,045 papers. We list both as a contrast group, not as IQ tests.

How did you count the papers?

We searched OpenAlex and PubMed for 38 test names and edition spellings in titles and abstracts, 1990-2025, and checked a random sample of 20 hits for each of the tests most at risk of false hits: 50% name the test and 48% name it as the measure.

Do the two indexes agree?

On the order of tests, yes: counts across 38 tests correlate at r = 0.96 on a log scale. On totals they differ: for tests with 100 or more papers, PubMed finds a median 0.40 times the OpenAlex count.

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Cite this study

Version 2026.11.1. Citing the version lets readers find the exact numbers.

Archived copy with a DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23973059 (report PDF and data on Zenodo).

Falkner, L. (2026). Which IQ test do scientists use? The Wechsler scales, in 16,721 papers (Version 2026.11.1) [Data set]. IQ Metrics Research. https://iqmetrics.org/research/most-used-iq-tests/ (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23973059)

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Get the data

One row per test or edition (38 rows): family, group (IQ test, cognitive battery or dementia screener), level (line or edition), publisher, first year, edition and its year, papers naming it in OpenAlex by period and in PubMed, the peak year, the precision from a sample of up to 20 papers, and the search phrases.

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Data dictionary
ColumnWhat it holds
test_id, test, family, group, levelRow key, the test or edition, its family, the group (iq, battery, screener) and whether the row is a whole line (all editions) or one edition
publisher, first_year, edition, edition_yearPublisher, the year of the first edition, the edition named and its year, as in the publisher catalogue (empty where not read)
openalex_papers_1990_2025, openalex_1990_99 ... openalex_2020_25Journal articles and reviews whose title or abstract names the test, in OpenAlex, in total and by period
pubmed_papers_1990_2025, pubmed_papers_2020_25The same count in PubMed (title or abstract), in total and for 2020-25
peak_yearThe year with the most OpenAlex papers
precision_named_pct, precision_used_pctShare of the sampled OpenAlex hits that name the test, and that name it as the measure used (empty where not sampled)
search_phrasesThe exact phrases searched (OR); every source used the same ones

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IQ Metrics Research counted how many journal papers name each of 38 IQ and cognitive tests, 1990-2025, in OpenAlex and PubMed, and checked a random sample of hits. The Wechsler scales are named in 16,721 papers, 63% of all major IQ-test mentions; Raven's matrices are second (3,290). 60% of 2020-25 papers that name a WAIS or WISC edition name a replaced one. Counts show use, not accuracy. Source: IQ Metrics Research, https://iqmetrics.org/research/most-used-iq-tests/

Angles for a story

  • The most used IQ test in science: the Wechsler scales lead in 46 of 50 countries (Figure 10)
  • Raven’s matrices are closing the gap (Figure 4, Figure 5)
  • Old tests never die: 60% of recent papers name a replaced edition (Figure 7)
  • The most-named cognitive test is a dementia screener, not an IQ test (Figure 12)
  • Which fields use IQ tests: medicine and psychology (Figure 8, Figure 9)
  • Two databases, one ranking (Figure 13)

Quotes you can use

Attributable as written, with the name and title. For a different angle or a quote on a specific figure, ask through the contact page.

  • If you ask which IQ test scientists use, the answer is the Wechsler scales, by a wide margin: more than 16,000 papers name one. That is a statement about use, not about which test measures best.

    Leon Falkner, Data & Research Analyst, IQ Metrics Research
  • Raven’s matrices went from 8% to 15% of the IQ-test papers in thirty years. The Wechsler scales did not lose ground because Raven’s is better; Raven’s is easier to give in a study.

    Leon Falkner, Data & Research Analyst, IQ Metrics Research
  • Researchers keep citing the edition they already used. About 60% of recent papers that name a WAIS or WISC edition name one that has been replaced.

    Leon Falkner, Data & Research Analyst, IQ Metrics Research

Files

  • CSV of every test, with counts in two indexes, family, edition year, precision and the search phrases (CC BY 4.0)
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Terms, contact and corrections

Credit: “IQ Metrics Research, Which IQ test do scientists use? (2026)” with a link to this page. On air or in print, “IQ Metrics” and the page address are enough.

What it covers: 38 tests and editions, papers published 1990-2025 in OpenAlex and PubMed, queried on 5 November 2026.

Contact: the research team, through the contact page. Corrections are made on this page with a dated note in the version history.

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