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NATIONAL COMMISSION ON 

FORENSIC SCIENCE

Scientific Literature in Support of Forensic 

Science and Practice

Type of Work Product: Views Document

Statement of Issue

Each forensic discipline must have an underlying foundation which is the result of a rigorous 

vetting process and which is ultimately captured in the peer-reviewed scientific literature. 

Scientific literature comprises manuscripts that report empirical data and have been 

independently peer-reviewed for quality, originality, and relevance to the discipline. To 

strengthen confidence in results obtained in forensic examinations, each forensic discipline must 

identify resources that are scientifically credible, valid and with a clear scientific foundation. 

Such foundational literature in forensic practice should conform to norms across all scientific 

disciplines. Accordingly, the National Commission on Forensic Science (NCFS) proposes 

criteria by which scientific literature can be assessed for its consistency with principles of 

scientific validity. 

Background

Congress called for the establishment of an independent forensic science committee at the 

National Academy of Sciences to assess the state of forensic sciences in the United States in 

2006. The National Academy of Sciences Committee met for nearly two years (2007-2008) and

summarized its findings in a report “Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path 

Forward (National Research Council, 2009.” 1 During an April 23-24, 2007 committee session 

titled Identifying the Needs of the Forensic Community, the agenda included a segment on “The 

State of Forensic Disciplines” in which the following questions were addressed 2: What is the 

state of the art? Where is research conducted? Where is it published? What is the scientific basis 

that informs the interpretation of the evidence? Where are advancements coming from? What 

are the major hurdles in the scientific foundation or methods and in the practice? What research 

questions would you like to have answered?”

2

The results of this inquiry were described in the NRC report, specifically that “a notable dearth 

of peer-reviewed, published studies establishing the scientific bases and validity of many 

forensic methods3.” The term “foundation” was used no less than thirty times to emphasize that 

each forensic discipline must have a scientifically robust and validated basis to its methods, its

technologies, and its process of interpreting data.

In response to the National Research Council report regarding foundational forensic science 

research, an Interagency Working Group—the Research Development Technology and 

Evaluation (RDT&E) of the National Science and Technology Council’s Subcommittee on 

Forensic Science was assembled and chartered with the “identification of foundational research 

that can be mapped to specific principles across the various disciplines of forensic science...”

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The RDT&E committee tasked Scientific Working Groups (SWG) with addressing a series of 

discipline-specific questions. In response, literature compendiums were submitted to the 

RDT&E committee by several forensic working groups. A cursory review of the literature 

citations raised concerns within the NCFS that extend beyond these specific bibliographies: 

1. In some cases, it was unclear which literature citations are crucial to support the 

foundation of a particular forensic science discipline. 

2. Some of the cited literature had not undergone a rigorous peer-review process.

The goal of this Views document is to provide the framework necessary to address these and 

broader concerns regarding the status of the scientific foundation of forensic science across its 

many disciplines and practices.

View of the National Commission on Forensic Science

The NCFS believes that a comprehensive evaluation of the scientific literature is critical for the 

advancement of forensic science policy and practice in the United States. While other forms of 

dissemination of research and practice (e.g., oral and poster presentations at meetings, 

workshops, personal communications, editorials, dissertations, theses, and letters to editors) play 

an important role in science, the open, peer-reviewed literature is what endures and forms a 

foundation for further advancements. As stated by the National Research Council:

“Journal publication, traditionally an important means of sharing information and perspectives 

among scientists, is also a principal means of establishing a record of achievement in science.5”

This report further discusses the importance of issues surrounding potential conflicts of interest 

as it relates to peer review and publication practices:

“Disclosure, either public or institutional, is essential to controlling conflict of interest, and 

some universities and scientific journals prohibit certain forms of commercial contractual 

arrangements by their members or authors. But the responsibility for such disclosure rests with 

scientists themselves.”6

Given this background and considerations, the position of the NCFS it that foundational, 

scientific literature supportive of forensic practice should meet criteria such as the following:

 Peer-reviewed in the form of original research, substantive reviews of the original 

research, clinical trial reports, or reports of consensus development conferences.

 Published in a journal or book that has an International Standard Number (ISSN for 

journals; ISBN for books) and recognized expert(s) as authors (for books) or on its 

Editorial Board (for journals).

 Published in a journal that maintains a clear and publicly available statement of purpose 

that encourages ethical conduct such as disclosure of potential conflicts of interest 

integral to the peer review process 7
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 Published in a journal that utilizes rigorous peer review with independent external 

reviewers to validate the accuracy in its publications and their overall consistency with 

scientific norms of practice.

 Published in a journal that is searchable using free, publicly available search engines 

(e.g. PubMed, Google Scholar, National Criminal Justice Reference Service) that search 

major databases of scientific literature (e.g. Medline, National Criminal Justice 

Reference Service Abstracts Database, and Xplore). 

 Published in a journal that is indexed in databases that are available through academic 

libraries and other services (e.g. JSTOR, Web of Science, Academic Search Complete, 

and SciFinder Scholar).
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Citations

1) Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: a Path Forward” (2009). The 

National Academies Press. 

2) “Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: a Path Forward” (2009). The 

National Academies Press. Appendix B

3) “Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: a Path Forward” (2009). The 

National Academies Press, P.8 

4) National Science and Technology Council Committee on Science Subcommittee on 

Forensic Science, May 2, 2014 Office of Science & Technology Policy

5) National Research Council. “Responsibility in Science. Volume 1. Ensuring the Integrity 

of the Research Process” (1992). The National Academies Press, p. 52

6) National Research Council. “Responsibility in Science. Volume 1. Ensuring the Integrity 

of the Research Process” (1992). The National Academies Press, p. 78-79. 

7) National Research Council. “Responsibility in Science. Volume 1. Ensuring the Integrity 

of the Research Process” (1992). The National Academies Press, p. 141.