It is published by Elsevier and is the official journal of the International Society for Intelligence Research.

The journal was established in 1977 by Douglas K. Detterman (Case Western Reserve University).

According to the New Statesman in 2018, the "journal Intelligence is one of the most respected in its field" but has allowed its reputation "to be used to launder or legitimate racist pseudo-science".

[1] Smithsonian Magazine called it "a more respected psychology journal", but stated that it has "occasionally included papers with pseudoscientific findings about intelligence differences between races".

[2] It has been criticized for having included on its editorial board biochemist Gerhard Meisenberg and psychologist Richard Lynn, both known as promoters of eugenics and scientific racism.