OpenScales
Free, open psychological scales — validated questionnaires ready to run, download, and integrate into your research.
About OpenScales
OpenScales is an open repository of psychological measurement instruments in the
Open Scale Definition (OSD) format — a platform-independent way of
describing psychological, personality, and health scales. Each .osd file is a
single self-contained JSON document that can be run directly in the browser, administered via
PEBL or
PEBLHub,
or converted for import into common survey platforms.
All scales are provided as-is under their respective licenses. Many are in the public domain; others require attribution. Always check the license field before use in commercial contexts.
Open Format
Every scale is a single .osd file — human-readable JSON with items, scoring rules, norms, and embedded translations. No separate files to manage.
Ready to Run
Click “Run Scale” on any detail page to launch the questionnaire in your browser — no setup required. Or use PEBL for desktop administration.
Contributing
Want to add a scale? Fork the repository on GitHub, follow the contribution guide, and open a pull request.
OSD Format Features
- 13 response types — Likert, VAS, multiple choice, multi-check, grids/matrices, short & long answer, dropdowns, ranking
- Embedded translations — multiple languages in one file; runners select the language at runtime
- Subscales and scoring — sum, mean, weighted, min/max, SD; item reversal; hierarchical scoring; score transforms
- Norming and feedback — threshold-based score interpretation with labeled severity bands
- Randomization — item shuffling, option shuffling, section-level randomization
- Branching and skip logic — conditional visibility based on responses or parameters
- Input validation — required fields, numeric ranges, word/character limits, patterns
- Computed variables — intermediate calculations for skip logic, piping, and conditional display
- Implementation metadata — authorship and license tracking for the digital encoding
- Platform conversion — export to REDCap, Qualtrics, LimeSurvey, PsyToolkit, QTI 3.0, and Surveydown