Introduction.Since the appearance of the first WAIS scale, there has been a widespread attempt by researchers in the assessment of cognitive abilities to find short forms that facilitate the clinical practice of professionals in those situations where conditions, either because of the time available or the clinical characteristics of patients, do not require the use of an extensive tool. Objective.To carry out a systematic review of the short forms of up to four subtests extracted from the WAIS-III and WAIS-IV scales. Method.Conduct a search for information in the PsycINFO database and make a systematic review of the information following PRISMA guidelines. Results.Of the 47 studies found, 36 were selected for full-text revision, of which 13 were finally included in this review: 6 of the WAIS-III and 7 of the WAIS-IV. Different forms achieved good results in the quality criteria established in a variety of samples. Discussion and conclusion.There are several forms that are useful for estimating IQ, according to the samples and the quality criteria used