OSAC Technical Series 0003 

Annual Report 

February 2017 – February 2018 

Annual Report Working Group 

Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science (OSAC) 

https://dx.doi.org/10.29325/OSAC.TS.0003 
This publication is available free of charge from: https://nist.gov/osac 

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This publication is available free of charge from: https://nist.gov/osac 

OSAC Technical Series 0003 

Annual Report

February 2017 – February 2018 

By

The Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science (OSAC)

Forensic Science Standards Board (FSSB) and

the OSAC Editorial Board: 

John Paul Jones II, Donna Kimball, Sabrina Springer, Mark Stolorow 

http://dx.doi.org/10.29325/OSAC.TS.0003 

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This publication is available free of charge from: https://nist.gov/osac 

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Executive Summary 

Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science (OSAC) 

This publication is available free of charge from: https://nist.gov/osac 

OSAC is an initiative of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The 

purpose of OSAC is to strengthen the nation’s use of forensic science by: 

• Providing technical leadership that facilitates the development and promulgation of

consensus-based documentary standards and guidelines for forensic science 

• Promoting standards and guidelines that are fit-for-purpose and based on sound 

scientific principles 

• Promoting the use of OSAC standards and guidelines by accreditation and 

certification bodies 

• Establishing and maintaining working relationships with similar organizations and 

other stakeholders. 

Accomplishments – February 2017 through February 2018 

Below are a few examples of accomplishments seen within OSAC from February 2017 

through February 2018. 

• Continued progress on interdisciplinary projects focused on terminology, training,

statistics, and conclusions. 

• Supported the development of roadmaps within some disciplines that outline gaps in 

standards and research to enable subcommittees to better prioritize standards

development. 

• Facilitated the interaction of academic scholars, legal professionals, and forensic

scientists to help identify research gaps that exist and go hand-in-hand with standards’

needs. 

• Continued investment in developing and reviewing over 200 draft standards across 25 

forensic disciplines that will improve the current and future practice of forensic

science. 

• National Institute of Justice (NIJ) incorporated OSAC published research and

development needs into forensic science research and development their solicitation 

process. 

• Convened second annual OSAC Leadership Strategy Session successfully resolving 

organizational framework, policy and operational challenges. 

• Published a new OSAC Lexicon of Forensic Science Terminology. 

• Published the new OSAC Standards Implementation Plan documenting numerous

strategic pathways to encourage adoption and implementation of the standards on the

OSAC Registry. 

• Introduced the new NIST Technical Publication Series for impactful and relevant

OSAC documents. 

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This publication is available free of charge from: https://nist.gov/osac 

OSAC Registry Approvals as of February 2018: • As of February 2018, there were eight (8) standards on the OSAC Registry, and an 

additional four (4) in the final approval process, 

• More than 200 draft standards currently in the OSAC pipeline, and • Continued partnership with SDOs including the Academy Standards Board (ASB),

American Dental Association (ADA), ASTM International, International

Organization for Standardization (ISO), and National Fire Protection Association 

(NFPA). 

The OSAC Communications efforts have included a monthly Standards Bulletin designed to

update stakeholders on the latest activities within forensic science Standards Developing 

Organizations (SDO) and documents progressing onto the OSAC Registry. Additionally, the

OSAC Technical Publications Series was established at NIST in 2017. As of February 2018,

OSAC has two publications under this series with two additional technical publications

currently in process. • OSAC Technical Series 0001: 2017 OSAC Annual Report • OSAC Technical Series 0002: A Framework for Harmonizing Forensic Science

Practices and Digital/Multimedia Evidence 

Message from the Forensic Science Standards Board (FSSB) 

OSAC entered into its fourth year of existence with increased productivity regarding 

standards language development as well as improved communications and interaction with 

our internal and external stakeholders. Highlights over the period include: • Creation of a standardized “Roadmap” for the subcommittees and SACs to better

track and articulate the progress of standards in development 

• Creation of a Technical Issues Task Group to help address cross-discipline and other

stakeholder concerns that arise during the vetting of standards 

• Drafting and socializing an “Implementation Strategy” that describes the outreach 

efforts required to encourage adoption of standards listed on the OSAC Registry by 

various stakeholder groups as well as metrics to track and potential barriers to

implementation 

• Continued engagement with our forensic science professional association partners

through in-person presentations at annual meetings and conferences 

• Continuous review and revision of our Charter and Bylaws and Terms of Reference

(TORs) to improve operational efficiencies and address emerging challenges 

• Supported NIST’s Request for Information (RFI) regarding the future of OSAC

outside of NIST control and financial support (OSAC 2.0) 

• Maintaining our open communication and interaction with SACs and subcommittees

through the OSAC Leadership Strategies Sessions (OLSS). - 6 -
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This publication is available free of charge from: https://nist.gov/osac 

The FSSB has made several management improvements that allow for better functionality at

all levels of OSAC which include improving the processes employed to both review

standards destined for SDOs and for assessing published standards eligible for the OSAC

Registry. 

As we close in on the completion of our fourth full year, all of our original members, who 

received staggered two, three, or four year initial terms, will have fulfilled their commitment

to their first term and we’re encouraged that the majority of our members have decided to 

reengage with their respective units for a second term. 

The FSSB has recruited some new members and achieved a good balance of stakeholder

representatives to ensure multiple points of view are considered when addressing any issue.

The FSSB is composed of: 

• SAC chairs and Resource Committee chairs 

• Six professional forensic science organizations (representing over 20,000

practitioners) 

• Researchers, scientists and academicians. 

That said, turnover in an organization this size does occur, and this permits the healthy 

infusion of new ideas and leaders enabling the organization to reach new heights and explore

fresh concepts. We continue to encourage practitioners, statisticians, researchers, academics

and members of the legal community to apply for positions on OSAC. 

Additionally, we will continue the OLSS effort with an emphasis on the future, empowering 

that body to provide the FSSB with recommendations to help sustain our forward-thinking

enterprise. Finally, we will continue to strategize as to the best way forward with OSAC 2.0.

There appears to be general consensus that OSAC has a viable and important mission and our

efforts have not gone unrecognized. With the elimination of the President’s Council of

Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) Forensic Science review panel and the fact

that the charter for National Commission on Forensic Science (NCFS) was not renewed,

OSAC becomes the preeminent leader in standards development for the forensic sciences and 

will face additional scrutiny from the public sector. The FSSB is confident that we have a

good cross-section of experts that will represent the best interests across the spectrum of our

representative disciplines. 

The FSSB thanks all OSAC volunteers for their time and input to the OSAC process, all of

the federal, state, and local government agencies, academic institutions, and criminal justice

and forensic science organizations that support the OSAC mission by allowing their staff to 

continue to participate. 

Improving forensic science standards requires listening to others external to OSAC and we

welcome all comments from stakeholders and partners. If you have questions about this

report or about OSAC, please contact us at forensics@nist.gov - 7 -
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This publication is available free of charge from: https://nist.gov/osac

Fig. 1. FSSB Members from the left:

Back Row - Jose Almirall, Greg Davis, Richard Vorder Bruegge, Robyn

Ragsdale, Jeff Salyards, Ray Wickenheiser, Christopher Plourd, William

Thompson, Mark Stolorow, Lucy Davis, and David Fowler.

Front Row - Karen Reczek, JoAnn Buscaglia, Mark Keisler, Melissa Gische,

Laurel Farrell, Steven Johnson

Absent - Karen Kafadar, Sarah Kerrigan 

Guests - Back Row (far right) - Richard Cavanagh; Front Row (far left) -

William Guthrie 

Location - Taken outside the Indianapolis State Crime Laboratory,

Indianapolis, IN 

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Table of Contents 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY......................................................................................................... - 5 -

1.0 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... - 11 -

2.0 ACCOMPLISHMENTS ............................................................................................. - 13 -

2.1 FSSB APPOINTMENTS.................................................................................................- 13 -

2.2 FSSB FOUNDATIONS TASK GROUP REPORT ................................................................- 13 -

2.3 FSSB IMPLEMENTATION TASK GROUP........................................................................- 14 -

2.4 STANDARDS ROADMAPS, ANALYSES, AND DISCIPLINE-SPECIFIC PROCESS MAPS ........- 15 -

2.5 LEXICON OF FORENSIC SCIENCE TERMINOLOGY .........................................................- 15 -

2.6 OSAC LEADERSHIP STRATEGY SESSION .....................................................................- 16 -

3.0 OSAC PUBLIC MEETINGS, PUBLIC RELATIONS, AND ENGAGEMENT........ - 19 -

4.0 OSAC REGISTRY....................................................................................................... - 21 -

4.1 OSAC ONGOING STANDARDS ACTIVITIES ..................................................................- 22 -

4.2 INTERDISCIPLINARY FORENSIC SCIENCE DISCUSSIONS AND PROJECTS ........................- 23 -

5.0 OSAC 2.0...................................................................................................................... - 24 -

6.0 FINAL WORDS........................................................................................................... - 25 -

This publication is available free of charge from: https://nist.gov/osac 

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This publication is available free of charge from: https://nist.gov/osac 

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1.0 Introduction 

The Organization of Scientific Committees for Forensic Science (OSAC) is an initiative by 

the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) focused on strengthening forensic

science in the United States by: 

• Providing technical leadership that facilitates

the development and promulgation of

consensus-based documentary standards and 

guidelines for forensic science 

• Promoting standards and guidelines that are

fit-for-purpose and based on sound scientific

principles 

• Promoting the use of OSAC standards by 

accreditation and certification bodies 

This publication is available free of charge from: https://nist.gov/osac 

• Establishing and maintaining working relationships with other similar organizations. 

OSAC operates as a multi-level organization, consisting of five Scientific Area Committees

(SACs) which report to the Forensic Science Standards Board (FSSB). Each of the five SACs

oversees several discipline-specific subcommittees. In addition, three Resource Committees

provide input and guidance to OSAC. 

OSAC contains members and affiliates. 

Affiliates can participate in task groups and

provide subject matter expertise but do not

have the same voting rights as members.

OSAC structure and membership include

(as of February 2018): 

• 550 members 

• 324 affiliates 

• 50 states represented 

• 210 task groups 

• 2535 applications to participate 

OSAC Core Principles: 

All standards and guidelines approved for inclusion

on the OSAC Registry must be developed by a

process that follows these four core OSAC

principles: 

• Openness 

• Balance 

• Consensus 

• Harmonization 

OSAC Member Current Job Classification 

• Attorney: 2% 

• Educator: 10% 

• Judge: 1% 

• Other: 10% 

• Practitioner: 56% 

• QA Manager: 2% 

• R&D Tech: 2% 

• Researcher: 17% 

Visit https://www.nist.gov/topics/forensic-science/osac-organizational-structure, and see Fig.

3, to learn more about the OSAC structure, the FSSB, and the other committees. 

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Fig. 3. The OSAC is a multi-level 

organization consisting of 25 

subcommittees, 5 SACs, 3 resource 

committees, and the FSSB. 

This report summarizes OSAC short, mid and long-term goals and the activities and 

accomplishments from February 2017 to February 2018. OSAC strives to represent and 

address the needs of the entire stakeholder community. The audience for this report is broad: 

• 550 OSAC members (as of February 2018) 

• 324 OSAC affiliates (as of February 2018) 

• Forensic science service providers 

• Private sector manufacturers and service vendors supplying forensic science

providers 

• Accrediting bodies 

• Certifying bodies 

• Representatives of the criminal justice system 

• Representatives of the legal system (judges, prosecution and defense) 

• Professional forensic science organizations (including AAFS, AFTE, ASCLD, IAI,

NAME and SOFT) 

• Other professional scientific organizations 

• Existing and historical Scientific Working Groups (SWGs) 

• International and national standards organizations 

• Federal, state, and local government agencies (including thousands of state and local

law enforcement agencies) 

This publication is available free of charge from: https://nist.gov/osac

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This publication is available free of charge from: https://nist.gov/osac 

• Federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs) • Academia • Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) • The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) • The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) • The public. 

2.0 Accomplishments 

2.1 FSSB Appointments 

OSAC has made great strides as an organization over the last year. The

FSSB has made management improvements that allow for better

functionality at all levels of OSAC as well as improved processes to 

review and vet standards and those documents destined to become 

standards published through standards developing organizations (SDOs).

The FSSB is proud to have three new members whose qualifications add 

significantly to the scientific experience and expertise of the Board: • Dr. David Fowler, Chief Medical Examiner, OCME, State of Maryland and NAME

Representative 

• Melissa Gische, FBI Physical Scientist/Forensic Examiner and Physics/Pattern 

Interpretation SAC Chair 

• Robyn Ragsdale, Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Biology/DNA SAC

Chair 

• Ray Wickenheiser, NY State Police Crime Laboratory System Director and ASCLD

Representative 

Furthermore, a new FSSB Chair was appointed. Steve Johnson, IAI Representative,

succeeded Jeremy Triplett, ASCLD Representative on October 1, 2017. 

2.2 FSSB Foundations Task Group Report 

The FSSB is developing a foundational exercise for OSAC that will help capture the current

state of each forensic science discipline to include considerations such as method validation,

measurements, traceability, reporting, potential for bias, error rate calculations, and other

considerations. The draft report is currently under production within OSAC. - 13 -
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.3 FSSB Implementation Task Group 

This publication is available free of charge from: https://nist.gov/osac 

The FSSB has prepared an OSAC Registry 

Implementation Plan for our forensic science partners.

The Implementation Plan describes various pathways

for OSAC to promote and encourage our partners and 

stakeholders to adopt and implement the approved 

standards listed on the OSAC Registry. Additionally,

the Plan describes strategies within these pathways that

OSAC and the FSSB may leverage to encourage

support from forensic service providers, accreditation 

bodies, professional associations, criminal justice

system, academia, and federal, state, and local

agencies.

Implementation of forensic science standards requires

a strategic plan to ensure standards listed on the OSAC

Registry are put into practice across the entire forensic

science community. Currently, the use of forensic science standards is not required by law.

The only exception is for forensic DNA laboratories that are held to the FBI Quality

Assurance Standards (QAS) due to a statutory Congressional mandate by the DNA

Identification Act of 1994. Therefore, there are few forensic-disciple specific documentary 

standards that can be used to audit laboratories. Individual laboratories such as the Kentucky 

State Police (KSP) and Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) have elected to self-adopt

standards on the OSAC Registry by incorporating them into their standard operating

procedures (SOPs). For example, the KSP Drug Chemistry Section, following the ISO/IEC

17025 numbering scheme, has recently updated its SOPs to formally incorporate OSAC

standards and guidelines. 

The Implementation Plan is in its final internal OSAC review. Additionally, the FSSB

Outreach and Communications Task Group is formulating a strategy for executing some of

the pathways. 

As OSAC adds additional standards and guidelines to the OSAC Registry, individual crime

laboratories or sections within laboratories should consider adoption of these scientifically 

sound standard as KSP and GBI demonstrated. If crime laboratories decide to incorporate

OSAC standards and guidelines into their SOPs, please let the OSAC know by emailing us at

forensics@nist.gov. 

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This publication is available free of charge from: https://nist.gov/osac

Fig. 4. Examples of OSAC Implementation Pathways Under Consideration by the FSSB. 

2.4 Standards Roadmaps, Analyses, and Discipline-Specific Process Maps 

A number of subcommittees such as the Friction Ridge Subcommittee, Materials (Trace), and 

the Fire Debris & Explosives have developed strategic standards roadmaps that outline some

or all of the following: research gaps, technical standards gaps, quality standards gaps, and

other state-of-the-discipline information. It has enabled the subcommittees to better prioritize

their approach to standards development and promotion. 

In addition to those individual subcommittee activities, the FSSB has requested each 

subcommittee to develop a standardized roadmap to identify the key standards-related 

considerations and conditions affecting their forensic science discipline. By doing so, OSAC

can provide a state of standardization on a discipline-by-discipline basis and provide clear

priorities to OSAC units on standardization as each gap is assigned a priority level. 

The standardized roadmap exercise is expected to wrap up at the conclusion of 2018 for

publication in 2019. 

2.5 Lexicon of Forensic Science Terminology 

The forensic sciences encompass dozens of

disciplines, each with its own history and 

vocabulary. To help facilitate clear communication

across the many forensic disciplines, OSAC has

created a Lexicon of Forensic Science Terminology. 

The OSAC Lexicon Initiative started in 2016, when the FSSB tasked all OSAC units with 

identifying and collecting existing terminology related to their forensic science discipline.

The end result is a consolidated, searchable lexicon organized by discipline. The terms and 

definitions come from the published literature, including documentary standards, specialized 

dictionaries, Scientific Working Group (SWG) documents, books, journal articles, and 

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This publication is available free of charge from: https://nist.gov/osac 

technical reports. In addition, the OSAC subcommittees generated or modified many 

definitions. 

Steve Johnson, FSSB Chair, noted that, "Our goal was to get the OSAC work product out for

public consumption, but this is a living document. OSAC plans to add new terms, remove

terms, consolidate duplicate entries, verify sources of non-verified terms, and reach 

consensus on more OSAC Preferred Terms." 

Other terminology initiatives within OSAC include developing discipline-specific

terminology standards designed for publication by SDOs. Two of these terminology 

standards are already available from the American Academy of Forensic Science Academy 

Standards Board (ASB). 

OSAC will continue to refine the Lexicon and draft terminology standards for submission to 

SDOs. The release of this lexicon database for forensic sciences marks a milestone in the 

effort to help the many disciplines speak the same language. 

Fig. 5. OSAC Lexicon of Forensic Science Terminology 

2.6 OSAC Leadership Strategy Session 

The FSSB held the annual OSAC Leadership Strategy Session (OLSS) on September 28-29,

2017, to share current program perspectives that exist from each of the OSAC committees,

investigate differences when perspectives varied, and strive to reach a shared vision of

success for OSAC. The FSSB convened the five SAC chairs, four resource committee and 

statistics task group chairs, and each of the 25 subcommittee chairs. The meeting resulted in 

defining four focus areas where OSAC can build momentum capitalizing on our strengths. - 16 -
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This publication is available free of charge from: https://nist.gov/osac 

The following program improvements were implemented or are in process based on the

feedback received from OSAC members at this strategy session: 

1. Improve OSAC Processes o Developed new or streamlined existing OSAC processes to remove

needless barriers and “invisible boxes” from the process maps.

o OSAC subcommittees are posting discipline-specific baseline documents,

which are in various stages of development, on their webpages along with

lists of the current standards under development or sent to an SDO.

2. Culture o The FSSB is still working to develop a strategy to best achieve

timeliness, relevance, consensus, and quality in OSAC standards

development and approval processes.

o Revised the current organizational priorities for consumption by the

OSAC membership.

3. Perfect vs. Best Fit o OSAC has come to recognize that standards can never be perfect.

Standards are living documents evolving through an iterative process.

Standards undergo continuous improvement with each revision. The

OSAC Registry will continue to evolve as new standards are added or

improved.

4. Prioritization o The FSSB is currently proceeding with the Roadmap Exercise, finalizing

the OSAC Implementation Plan, and continuing work on the

Foundational Documents to provide priorities for its SACs, resource

committees, and subcommittees. OSAC can be more effective by

spending more time on the most impactful activities. Prioritization

identifies what those activities are.

OSAC will continue to improve standards across all forensic science disciplines. The

organization aims to improve its processes, management and ways to work in partnership 

with the SDOs. 

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Fig. 6, 7, 8, 9. Members of the FSSB, SACs, and subcommittees at the OLSS Meeting in September 2017. 

This publication is available free of charge from: https://nist.gov/osac 

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Fig. 6, 7, 8, 9. Members of the FSSB, SACs, and subcommittees at the OLSS Meeting in September 2017. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.0 OSAC Public Meetings, Public Relations, and Engagement 

OSAC reports its activities to the public annually. 

The OSAC public meeting was held in Seattle, WA,

on February 20, 2018 in conjunction with the

American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS)

Annual Meeting. Committees discussed the

standards on the OSAC Registry, work items handed 

over to the SDOs during the past year, and an

overview of the other draft standards in progress.

Some of the event’s discussion points echoed last

year’s important themes such as the need to 

continually place focus on technical merit, and the

need to consider the influence of bias on stated 

opinions and conclusions. Video recordings and 

slide decks of OSAC Scientific Area Committee 

presentations are available online at:

https://www.nist.gov/newsevents/events/2018/02/what-osac-behind-sceneslook-join-us-aafs-2018 

Fig. 10. Steven Johnson, Chair, FSSB, presenting at the 

OSAC public meeting at AAFS, 2018. 

Fig. 11. Public meeting agenda. 

This publication is available free of charge from: https://nist.gov/osac 

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The SACs provide public updates at other conferences relevant to their specific disciplines. 

OSAC Affairs staff and members also provided presentations at public meetings and 

conferences, including: 

This publication is available free of charge from: https://nist.gov/osac 

American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) Annual Meeting – 

Criminalistics and Jurisprudence Sections 

American Bar Association (ABA) Annual Prescription for Criminal Justice 

Forensics Program 

American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors (ASCLD) 

Association of Firearm and Tool Mark Examiners (AFTE) 

Association of Forensic Quality Assurance Managers (AFQAM) 

First National Mexican Forensic Science Symposium 

International Association for Identification (IAI) 

International Crime Science Investigators Association (ICSIA) 

Midwest Crime Laboratory Director’s Meeting 

National Forensic Science Symposium by National Association of Attorneys 

General (NAAG) 

OSAC representatives have published web and journal articles related to the 

program to create awareness and share progress 

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4.0 OSAC Registry 

This publication is available free of charge from: https://nist.gov/osac 

The OSAC Registry is intended to serve as a trusted repository that lists high-quality

standards to address discipline-specific requirements in forensic science. Most of the

documents being developed within OSAC, in conjunction with SDOs, are standards

documents which have the goal of being placed on the OSAC Registry. A standard or

guideline that is posted on the OSAC Registry demonstrates that the methods it contains have

been assessed to be sound by forensic science practitioners, academic researchers,

measurement scientists, and statisticians through a consensus development process that

allows participation and comment from all relevant stakeholders. Five standards were added 

to the OSAC Registry between February 2017 and February 2018: 

• ASTM E2548-11e1: Standard Guide for Sampling Seized Drugs

for Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis (Seized Drugs

Subcommittee, April 3, 2017)

• ISO/IEC 17020:2012: Conformity Assessment—Requirements for

the Operation of Various Types of Bodies Performing

Inspection (Interdisciplinary Virtual Subcommittee, April 18, 2017)

• ANSI/NIST ITL-1: 2011 (Update 2013) Data Format for the

Interchange of Fingerprint, Facial & Other Biometric

Information (Interdisciplinary Virtual Subcommittee, July 13, 2017)

• ASTM E2926-17: Standard Test Method for Forensic Comparison

of Glass Using Micro X-ray Fluorescence (μ-XRF)

Spectrometry (Materials Trace Subcommittee, July 19, 2017)

• NFPA 921:2017 Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations (Fire

and Explosion Investigation Subcommittee, November 1, 2017)

Many standards and guidelines exist that are not recommended and/or approved for the

OSAC Registry. This does not necessarily mean that OSAC is invalidating their use. The

absence of a standard or guideline on the OSAC Registry simply means that it has either not

been recommended yet, or it might have met only some of the OSAC criteria. 

The OSAC Registry is available at: https://www.nist.gov/topics/forensic-science/

organization-scientific-area-committees-osac/osac-registry/osac-approved, and public

documents associated with the Registry Approval Process for approval onto the OSAC 

Registry can be found on the OSAC Registry Public Documents page: https://www.nist.gov/

topics/organization-scientific-area-committees-forensic-science/public-documents.

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4.1 OSAC Ongoing Standards Activities 

This publication is available free of charge from: https://nist.gov/osac 

The OSAC members are now focusing on over 200 different standards projects. These are

currently moving through the two OSAC processes: the OSAC Working with an SDO 

Process and the OSAC Registry Approval Process. The first of these two processes entail

OSAC committees or task groups submitting an idea, a partially drafted document, or a fully

drafted document to an SDO for further modifications, balloting, and publishing. The second 

process focuses on elevating selected standards or guidelines to the OSAC Registry. 

Throughout the year, various OSAC subcommittees submitted documents or document

concepts to SDOs for further development, such as the Academy Standards Board (ASB), the

American Dental Association (ADA), National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and 

ASTM International. OSAC has submitted over 50 documents or concept submissions over 

this past year. Some examples of published standards include: 

1. ASB Technical Report 025, Crime Scene/Death Investigation –

Dogs and Sensors – Terms and Definitions, First Edition, 2017

2. ASB Technical Report 033, Terms and Definitions in

Bloodstain Pattern Analysis, First Edition, 2017

3. ADA 1088-2017 Human Identification by Comparative Dental

Analysis

4. NFPA 921:2017 Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations

5. ASTM E2881-18 Standard Test Method for Extraction and Derivatization of

Vegetable Oils and Fats from Fire Debris and Liquid Samples with Analysis by Gas

Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

6. ASTM E1610-18 Standard Guide for Forensic Paint Analysis and Comparison.

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This publication is available free of charge from: https://nist.gov/osac 

4.2 Interdisciplinary Forensic Science Discussions and Projects 

The wide spectrum of stakeholders and disciplines in OSAC offers an opportunity for

interdisciplinary projects and dialogue to occur. 

For example, the OSAC provides: • Increased cross-discipline visibility and understanding of the commonalities and

differences in the way forensic science practitioners perform work,

• Opportunities for forensic science disciplines to leverage each other’s scientific

successes,

• Routine access to insights and perspectives from all stakeholders (from both within

and outside of the forensic science community),

• The ability to develop and promote standards implementation through a unified effort

in the forensic science field, and to broaden the potential impact of these standards.

Several interdisciplinary OSAC projects are underway. These are led by “virtual

subcommittees and task groups" that consist of members from multiple disciplines and 

committees. These interdisciplinary projects include: • Training, Continuing Education and Professional Development Virtual Subcommittee

is focusing on a new high-level training standard applicable to all forensic science

practitioners,

• Conclusions Virtual Subcommittee is attempting to define standard terminology and

usage for forensic examiners expressing source conclusions for publication in a

scholarly journal or as an OSAC Technical Series publication,

• Statistics Task Group consists of statisticians who are members of various OSAC

committees and subcommittees, who collaborate on specific statistics challenges

related to the OSAC,

• ACE Virtual Subcommittee focuses on developing discipline-specific methodologies

for applying the method known as ACE-V, (ACE-V is an acronym for the Analysis,

Comparison, Evaluation and Verification methodology used by forensic science

practitioners primarily when conducting feature comparisons.)

• 29 Word Terminology Task Group works to refine definitions for the terms that the

Legal Resource Committee has identified as being most challenging because of

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5.0 OSAC 2.0 

NIST and the Department of Justice (DOJ) formed OSAC in 2014 through a bilateral

Memorandum of Understanding. OSAC was designed to be administered by NIST and

created to strengthen the nation’s use of forensic science by facilitating the development of

technically sound forensic science standards and by promoting the adoption of those

standards by the forensic science community. When OSAC was established, NIST and DOJ

publicly stated that they expected the organization’s structure to evolve over time and that

OSAC would transition out of NIST to a different host organization within five to 10 years. 

“Now that OSAC has been operating for three-plus years, it’s time to assess the performance

of the organization and look for opportunities for improvement,” said Richard Cavanagh, 

director of the NIST Special Programs Office, which oversees OSAC operations. “Although 

the structure of OSAC may change, the goals remain the same, and NIST remains committed 

to OSAC’s stability and scientific integrity.” 

An open call went out in August 2017 requesting feedback from the public on six areas for

OSAC 2.0 that were developed by NIST in order to delineate a range of possible changes to 

the organization. The six target areas were:

1. Purpose

2. Oversight and Independence

3. Work Product and Aims

4. Structure

5. Participation

6. Funding

These concepts were offered to generate

ideas and input and were not meant to be

exhaustive. NIST is open to maintaining 

elements of the current OSAC structure,

modifying the structure, and considering 

substantially different structures, including

ideas received from the public comments

concerning the six areas proposed. 

Fig. 12. Federal Register Announcement 

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6.0 Final Words 

This publication is available free of charge from: https://nist.gov/osac 

OSAC has made great strides to help achieve and develop technically valid and consensusbased standards and guidelines, spanning 25 forensic disciplines. With over 800 members

and affiliates representing key stakeholder groups, including forensic scientists, laboratory

managers, academic researchers, measurement scientists, statisticians, human factors experts,

accreditation and standards development experts, attorneys, and judges, the organization will

continue to find ways to improve how it operates and be transparent to the entire forensic

science community. 

Document Disclaimer: 

This publication was produced as part of the Organization of Scientific Area Committees for

Forensic Science (OSAC) and is made available by the U.S. Government. The views

expressed in this publication and in the OSAC Technical Series Publications do not

necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Government. The publications are

provided “as-is” as a public service and the U.S. Government is not liable for their contents. 

Certain commercial equipment, instruments, or materials are identified in this publication to

foster understanding. Such identification does not imply recommendation or endorsement by

the U.S. Government, nor does it imply that the materials or equipment identified are

necessarily the best available for the purpose. 

Copyright Disclaimer:

Contributions to the OSAC Technical Series publications made by employees of the United

States Government acting in their official capacity are not subject to copyright protection 

within the United States. The Government may assert copyright to such contributions in 

foreign countries. Contributions to the OSAC Technical Series publications made by others

are generally subject to copyright held by the authors or creators of such contributions, all

rights reserved. Use of the OSAC Technical Series publications by third parties must be

consistent with the copyrights held by contributors. 

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