Mind Garden Policy on Alteration of Instruments

If you would like to alter a Mind Garden instrument please read our policy below and register your intent by completing the form.

1) When a psychological instrument is altered it may affect the validity and/or reliability of the instrument because the meaning of the items and/or the instructions change. This meaning change has unknown consequences on how well the instrument predicts behavior and/or represents the constructs measured by the instrument. Typically, journal editors and reviewers will ask for a complete construct validation study when items and scale anchors are changed, which indicates the importance they assign to changing original items in scales and instruments.

2) Our authors retain the rights to any of their items or scales that are altered, and therefore it is important to assign all alterations to the copyright holder.

3) When research from an altered instrument is published it brings in a degree of ambiguity about:
  a) the nature of difference from the original instrument,
  b) the results of the study as a characterization that might differ from the original instrument,
  c) how the validity and reliability reported might be affected by the alteration.
For these reasons, we have to be sure that any alterations are clearly indicated in the write-up of the study to be published. Moreover, we have a policy of not publishing entire scales and therefore, when items are altered only a few sample items should be provided to the journal. Please see our copyright policy.

4) At no time may any entire instrument or scale, altered or original, be included in any publication as per Mind Garden policy.

5) Mind Garden gets a number of inquiries from researchers trying to find an altered instrument they have read about in a publication. Thus, it is important for Mind Garden to maintain a database of alterations to instruments to assist in these inquiries. Mind Garden does not sanction the alteration but needs to keep track of them.

6) If you wish to put an altered instrument online it is important to review Mind Garden's online policy about this.

To register your intent to make an alteration to a Mind Garden instrument, please fill out the following form (all fields are required):

Name:
Email Address:
Phone Number:
Title:
Institution:
Country:
Instrument Name:	Select one Abuse Risk Inventory for WomenAdjective ChecklistAlternate UsesAreas of Worklife SurveyAuthentic Leadership QuestionnaireBarron Welsh Art ScaleBass Orientation InventoryBem Sex Role InventoryBody Insight ScaleCalifornia Older Adult Stroop TestCalifornia Q-Sort for AdultsCalifornia Q-Sort for ChildrenCareer Beliefs InventoryChapin Social Insight TestClassroom Environment ScaleCommunity Oriented Programs Environment ScaleCoopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory Adult FormCoopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory School FormCoping Operations Preference EnquiryCoping Resources InventoryCorrectional Institutions Environment ScaleCorrectional Officers' Interest BlankDeveloping the Leader WithinDynamic Factors SurveyEnright Forgiveness InventoryFamily Environment ScaleFive Factor Wellness InventoryFlow: CORE Dispositional Scale (C DFS-2)Flow: CORE State Scale (C FSS-2)Flow: LONG Dispositional Scale - General (DFS-2 General)Flow: LONG Dispositional Scale - Physical (DFS-2 Physical)Flow: LONG State Scale - General (FSS-2 General)Flow: LONG State Scale - Physical (FSS-2 Physical)Flow: SHORT Dispositional Scale (S DFS-2)Flow: SHORT State Scale (S FSS-2)Friedman Well Being ScaleGroup Embedded Figures TestGroup Environment ScaleHassles and UpliftsHealth and Daily Living FormHoffman Vocational Values ScaleImpact Message Inventory -- CircumplexInventory of Interpersonal ProblemsJourney of Self-DiscoveryMarital Attitude EvaluationMaslach Burnout Inventory - Educators SurveyMaslach Burnout Inventory - General SurveyMaslach Burnout Inventory - Human Services SurveyMathematics Self-Efficacy ScaleMenstrual Distress QuestionnaireMilitary Environment InventoryMultifactor Leadership QuestionnaireMultifactor Leadership Questionnaire for TeamsNeuropsychology Behavior and Affect ProfileOlder Persons Counseling Needs SurveyOrganizational Description QuestionnairePerceived Stress ScalePersonality Disorder Adjective Check ListProfiles of Organizational Influence StrategiesPsychological Capital QuestionnairePsychological Ownership QuestionnairePsychotherapy Outcome KitSchool Situation SurveySocial Climate Scales: A User's GuideSocial Insight TestSocial Reticence ScaleSocial Skills InventoryState-Trait Anger Expression InventoryState-Trait Anxiety Inventory for AdultsState-Trait Anxiety Inventory for ChildrenState-Trait Anxiety Inventory in PortugueseState-Trait Personality InventoryTest Anxiety InventoryUniversity Residence Environment ScaleWard Atmosphere ScaleWays of Coping QuestionnaireWellness Evaluation of LifestyleWelsh Figure Preference TestWork Environment ScaleWork Self-Efficacy Inventory
Specific Alterations:	Select one Change instructions Change terms (e.g. "leader" to "orchestra leader") Add or delete items Add or delete subscales Change the wording of an item or items Give examples Other alterations

Provide details on the proposed alterations (instruction changes, terms to be changed, items or subscales to be added or deleted, item wording to be changed, examples to be added or other alterations):
 

Please state your reason for needing to make these alterations:
 

PLEASE NOTE: By completing this form you have registered your intent to make an alteration. Please do not use the altered instrument until Mind Garden sends you written approval to proceed.

By submitting this form you assign all rights to the altered instrument to the copyright holder.

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Statement of Agreement: By submitting this form I and all associated entities agree that the instrument referred to above as altered is a derivative work of [the selected] instrument and I hereby assign all right, title, and interest in any such derivative work in perpetuity to Mind Garden, Inc. or as directed by Mind Garden, Inc.

I will include the copyright notice of the instrument on the altered work. I will include the reference to Mind Garden, Inc. and www.mindgarden.com on the altered work.

I will compensate Mind Garden, Inc. for all reproductions of the altered work.

All of the information I have provided on this form is true and accurate.
(please enter your name and the date to serve as your signature of agreement)

Name:       Date:

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Copyright ©2005 - 2012  /  Updated 05/08/09