The unified strain-and-temperature scaling law underlies the many pinning-force-model expressions proposed to parameterize the dependence of the critical current I c on magnetic field B, temperature T and applied axial strain ε in superconductors for high-field magnet design. Increasingly, these expressions have been evaluated by use of multiparameter simultaneous fits, without the use of scaling. In this review, we reintroduce the unified scaling law on which the recent parameterizations are based, as well as the power of raw scaling data for parameter consistency, extrapolation capability and data-based model evaluation.The unified scaling law (USL) for the flux-pinning force per unit conductor length F P [≡I c (B, T, ε)B] in practical high-field superconductors is expressed bywhere K (t, ε 0 ) is a temperature-and-strain dependent prefactor. The scaling variables are: reduced magnetic field b ≡ B/B * c2 (t, ε 0 ) with B * c2 (t, ε 0 ) an effective upper critical field; reduced temperature t ≡ T /T * c (ε 0 ) with T * c (ε 0 ) an effective strain-dependent critical temperature; and intrinsic axial strain ε 0 ≡ ε − ε m defined as zero at the strain ε m , where I c is maximum. The scaling parameters p and q are constants, which is a necessary (but not sufficient) condition for scaling. The strain dependences of T * c and B * c2 are correlated as) is also designated as s(ε 0 ) in the recent literature). It is shown that, when raw scaling data are used to determine the scaling parameter w, it has a constant value w ≈ 3.0 ± 0.1 in a wide range of Nb 3 Sn superconductors. This is significant, because w is the only scaling parameter that requires very large data matrices of I c (B, T, ε) to determine its value. Unified scaling has been demonstrated in a number of different superconducting materials, including Nb 3 Sn, Nb 3 Al and more recently, the fundamentally distinct MgB 2 and Bi-2223 material systems. * This article is based in part on the presentation 'Unified strain-and-temperature scaling law: separable parameter set' given at the Mechanical and Electromagnetic Properties of Composite Superconductors Conference (Princeton, NJ, Aug. 2007). Trade names are used for identification purposes only and do not imply endorsement by NIST. Contribution of US Government, not subject to US copyright.