Editorial policy

Everything published here is written by named people, reviewed before it goes live, and corrected when we get something wrong. This page explains how that works so you can judge our work rather than take it on trust.

Who writes here

Articles are produced by a small editorial team with backgrounds in cognitive psychology and psychometrics, led by Dr. Lena Marchetti, who oversees factual accuracy across the site. Every article carries a byline, a publication date and a last-updated date.

How we research

We work from peer-reviewed literature, test manuals and standards documents, and we prefer meta-analyses and replicated findings over single striking studies. Where a field is genuinely contested — the transfer effects of cognitive training, for example — we say so instead of picking the more quotable side.

Key sources are listed at the end of each article. We do not fabricate citations, and we do not present a hypothesis as a settled result.

Review before publication

Each article is read by a second member of the team whose job is to challenge the claims, check that numbers match their sources, and flag anything that could be read as clinical advice. Nothing is published straight from a first draft.

Corrections

If we publish an error of fact, we fix it and note the change at the foot of the article with the date. Minor edits for clarity or typography are made without a note. To report an error, email editorial@whatismytrueiq.com with the article and paragraph.

Updates and freshness

Cognitive science moves, and articles that summarise evidence need maintenance. We review our core explainers at least annually and update the revision date whenever the substance changes rather than the wording.

Advertising, sponsorship and our own product

This site is funded by advertising and by an optional paid report. Advertisers have no input into what we publish, no advance sight of articles, and no influence over conclusions. Ad placements are labelled and kept visually distinct from editorial content.

We also sell a report generated from our own test, which is a conflict of interest we would rather state than hide. Our answer to it is the methodology page: we publish the limitations of our own product, including the fact that its norms are not representative and that any online estimate carries a wide error range.

Use of AI tools

We use software for drafting support, copy-editing and research triage. Every published article is written, verified and signed off by a human author, who is responsible for every claim in it. We do not publish unreviewed generated text.

Medical and educational disclaimer

Our articles and test results are general education, not medical, psychological or educational advice. Nothing here diagnoses a condition or substitutes for assessment by a licensed professional. If you are worried about your cognition or that of someone close to you, speak to a doctor.

Questions about this policy? Write to us via the contact page.