The DOI matches its Crossref record; 412 of the 417 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
How many words do we read per minute? A review and meta-analysis of reading rate
Open accessAbstract
Based on the analysis of 190 studies (18,573 participants), we estimate that the average silent reading rate for adults in English is 238 words per minute (wpm) for non-fiction and 260 wpm for fiction. The difference can be predicted by taking into account the length of the words, with longer words in non-fiction than in fiction. The estimates are lower than the numbers often cited in scientific and popular writings. The reasons for the overestimates are reviewed. The average oral reading rate (based on 77 studies and 5965 participants) is 183 wpm. Reading rates are lower for children, old adults, and readers with English as second language. The reading rates are in line with maximum listening speed and do not require the assumption of reading-specific language processing. Within each group/task there are reliable individual differences, which are not yet fully understood. For silent reading of English non-fiction most adults fall in the range of 175–300 wpm; for fiction the range is 200–320 wpm. Reading rates in other languages can be predicted reasonably well by taking into account the number of words these languages require to convey the same message as in English.
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“Allowing that each story would need to be read several times, this meant an estimated reading time of 1 minute for 238 words gave an exposure time of 18 minutes for three readings of a 1,500 word story [49].”
From Five studies evaluating the impact on mental health and mood of recalling, reading, and discussing fiction (2022) · cites this paper as [49]
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“Nevertheless, his results do show that scanning a text and reading a text occurs in give very different results in words-per-minute metrics.”
From Five studies evaluating the impact on mental health and mood of recalling, reading, and discussing fiction (2022) · cites this paper as Brysbaert (2019)
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“Informed consent-a cornerstone of ethical data collection-is often undermined by lengthy and complex privacy policies, which in this review averaged 6113 words and would take approximately 26 min to read 55 .”
From Privacy in consumer wearable technologies: a living systematic analysis of data policies across leading manufacturers (2025) · cites this paper as [55]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Brysbaert, M.
- Affiliations
- Ghent University (BE)
- Corresponding author
- Brysbaert, Marc
- ORCID
- Brysbaert, Marc
- Venue
- Journal of Memory and Language
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2019-12
- Volume
- 109
- Pages
- 104047
- ISSN
- 0749-596X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2966983573
- Cited by
- 553
- References
- 417
- Citations by year
- 2026: 81 · 2025: 152 · 2024: 76 · 2023: 74 · 2022: 106 · 2021: 43 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 1
- FWCI
- 9.01
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Memory and Language (publishedVersion, public-domain)
- Ghent University Academic Bibliography (Ghent University) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Universiteit Gent
- Max Planck Instituut voor Psycholinguïstiek
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Reading and Literacy Development
- Social Sciences › Education › Literacy and Educational Practices
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism
- Keywords
- reading speed, silent reading, reading aloud, words per minute, nonfiction reading, fiction reading, word length, English as a second language, children's reading
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