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Editorial Policy

Our Editorial Standards

How Whats Your IQ researches, designs, and maintains its cognitive tests and psychology articles. Important caveats about what our tests can and cannot tell you.

PsychometricPrinciples
HumanWritten & Edited
Not ClinicalInstruments
P

Psychometric Basis

Tests built on published research in cognitive psychology and intelligence testing

H

Human Authorship

Written by contributors with psychology and cognitive science backgrounds

C

Clear Caveats

We are explicit about what online screening tests can and cannot tell you

S

Cited Science

Articles cite peer-reviewed research, not pop-science summaries

I

Independent Editorial

Advertiser relationships never influence test design or article conclusions

About Whats Your IQ

Whats Your IQ is an independent online publication founded and edited by Emir B. We publish cognitive screening tests, IQ-adjacent assessments, and research-grounded articles about intelligence, cognition, learning, and cognitive development.

Every editorial decision — how tests are designed, what research we cite, which cognitive claims we publish, and when to correct — rests with the editorial team. Advertisers do not influence test design, scoring, or editorial conclusions.

For editorial questions: editorial@whats-your-iq.com

What Our Tests Can and Cannot Tell You

Our online tests are screening and self-assessment tools. They are not clinical instruments, and a score from this site is not equivalent to a professionally administered IQ test.

Clinically validated IQ assessments — the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-IV), the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales, the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (KABC) — are administered one-on-one by licensed psychologists under standardized conditions, with validated norms built from large representative samples. An online screening test cannot replicate these conditions.

Our tests are designed for curiosity, self-exploration, and cognitive engagement. They should not be used for diagnostic purposes, educational placement decisions, employment selection, or clinical assessments. For a clinically valid evaluation, consult a licensed psychologist or neuropsychologist.

How We Design Tests and Articles

1

Psychometric Research Foundation

Our cognitive tests are informed by published research on intelligence testing, working memory, pattern recognition, fluid reasoning, and processing speed. We reference the public literature on Raven's Progressive Matrices, the Wechsler scales, Cattell-Horn-Carroll theory, and contemporary cognitive psychology research when designing test items.

2

Item Development

Test items are developed by contributors with backgrounds in psychology, psychometrics, or cognitive science. We do not use leaked or licensed clinical test items. All items are original and designed to assess the cognitive domain described by the test.

3

Article Research

Articles about intelligence, cognition, learning, and cognitive development cite peer-reviewed studies and books by named researchers. Where claims are contested in the scientific literature — the nature of general intelligence, the Flynn effect, cognitive training effects — we describe the debate rather than picking a side.

4

Editorial Review

Every article and test goes through an editorial review for accuracy, appropriate caveats, and sourcing quality before publication. We do not publish claims about intelligence or cognition without identifying the research behind them.

Key Research Sources We Draw On

  • Intelligence (journal, Elsevier)
  • Journal of Educational Psychology
  • Psychological Review
  • Cognitive Psychology (journal)
  • Journal of Cognitive Psychology
  • Raven's Progressive Matrices literature
  • Wechsler scale technical manuals
  • Cattell-Horn-Carroll theoretical framework

Who Writes Our Content

Articles on intelligence, cognition, and learning are written by contributors with backgrounds in psychology, cognitive science, neuroscience, or educational research. We do not assign content about intelligence or brain function to generalist writers without subject-matter familiarity.

Test items are developed by contributors with relevant psychometric or psychology backgrounds. The editorial team reviews all content for accuracy, appropriate caveats, and sourcing quality before publication.

Our Policy on AI-Assisted Content

Whats Your IQ content is written and edited by humans. We do not publish AI-generated articles or AI-designed test items as final content. Given the nature of our subject matter — making claims about human cognition and providing cognitive assessments — human expertise and editorial accountability are non-negotiable.

Software tools support our workflow: search, reference management, and grammar checking. These assist human contributors; they do not replace the cognitive science expertise and editorial judgment that define our content.

Conflicts of Interest and Advertising

Whats Your IQ displays third-party advertising. Advertisers do not influence editorial decisions, article topics, test content, or conclusions. Test scores, score interpretations, and cognitive ability claims are not influenced by advertiser preferences.

If an article discusses a product, service, or organization with which the publication has any commercial relationship, we disclose it at the top of that article. We do not accept payment to modify test results, alter cognitive claims, or suppress caveats about the limits of online testing.

Corrections Policy

Cognitive science evolves. Research findings get replicated, revised, or overturned. When our articles fall behind the current state of the evidence, we want to know.

How to Report an Error

Email editorial@whats-your-iq.com with the article URL and the specific issue. If you have a citation to the contradicting evidence, include it. We respond to all correction requests and check each one against our sources.

Material corrections — factual errors about intelligence research, outdated claims about cognitive science, or test items that incorrectly assess the domain they target — are noted at the bottom of the article with the correction date and a description of what changed. Minor corrections are made without notation.

We do not delete articles to avoid accountability. If we published something inaccurate, we correct it and document the correction.

This page was last reviewed in May 2025.  |  Questions? editorial@whats-your-iq.com