Abstract Inclusive jet cross section measurements from the ATLAS, CDF, CMS, D0, H1, STAR, and ZEUS experiments are explored for determinations of the strong coupling constant $$\alpha _{\text {s}} (M_{\text {Z}})$$ αs(MZ) . Various jet cross section data sets are reviewed, their consistency is examined, and the benefit of their simultaneous inclusion in the $$\alpha _{\text {s}} (M_{\text {Z}})$$ αs(MZ) determination is demonstrated. Different methods for the statistical analysis of these data are compared and one method is proposed for a coherent treatment of all data sets. While the presented studies are based on next-to-leading order in perturbative quantum chromodynamics (pQCD), they lay the groundwork for determinations of $$\alpha _{\text {s}} (M_{\text {Z}})$$ αs(MZ) at next-to-next-to-leading order.