Version	1	/	Date	of	Issue:	10.29.15	/	Issuing	Authority:	Forensic	Science	Standards	Board	(FSSB)

OSAC	Research	Needs Assessment Form

Title	of	research	need:

Keywords:

Submitting subcommittee(s): Date	Approved:

(If	SAC	review	identifies	additional	subcommittees,	add	them	to	the	box	above.)

Background	information:

1.	 Description	of	research	need:

2.	 Key	bibliographic	references	relating	to	this	research	need:

(1)	Perform	additional	studies	related	to	the	"Black	Box"	and	"White	Box"	research.		(2)	Research	

on	the	Analysis	phase	of	ACE-V (Analysis,	Comparison,	Evaluation,	Verification),	and	specifically	

how	modifications	to	feature	mark-up,	confidence	level	in	mark-up,	and	the	extent	of	those	

modifications	prior	to	comparison		(as well	as	during	comparison)	contribute	to	errors,	as	well	as	

ways	to	mitigate	errors. (3)	Develop	additional	or	refine	existing	tools	to	improve	consistency	in	

the	interpretation	of	friction	ridge	images,	feature	selection,	and	decisions	in	ACE	among	

examiners.	The	goal	is	to	eventually	understand	the	root	causes	of	examiner	variability	and	then	

implement	standards	and	training	to	homogenize results while	maximizing	accuracy.

Please	see	Appendix	“A”	for	a	normative	bibliography	related	to	this	research	topic.

For	a	comprehensive	and	informative	bibliography	related	to	friction	ridge	examination	please	see	

Appendix	“B”:			The	2011	SWGFAST	response	to	the	Research,	Development,	Testing	&	Evaluation	

Inter-Agency	Working	Group	of	the	National	Science	and	Technology	Council,	Committee	on	

Science,	Subcommittee	on	Forensic	Science.		

Examiner	Consistency	During	Friction	Ridge	Feature	Mark-Up

Friction	Ridge	Analysis,	Features,	Mark-Up,	ACE-V

Friction	Ridge
Version	1	/	Date	of	Issue:	10.29.15	/	Issuing	Authority:	Forensic	Science	Standards	Board	(FSSB)

3a.		In	what	ways	would	the	research	results	improve	current	laboratory capabilities?

3b.		In	what	ways	would	the	research	results	improve	understanding	of	the	scientific	basis	for	the	

subcommittee(s)?

3c.		In	what	ways	would	the	research	results	improve	services	to	the	criminal	justice	system?

4.		Status assessment	(I,	II,	III,	or	IV):		

This	research	need	has	been	identified	by	one	or	more	subcommittees	of	OSAC	and	is	being	provided	as	an	

informational	resource	to	the	community.

Major gap	

in	current	

knowledge

Minor gap	

in	current	

knowledge

No	or	limited

current	research	

is	being	

conducted

I III

Existing current	

research	is	being	

conducted

II IV

Consistency	of	mark-up	has	the	potential	to	lower	risk	associated	with	error	rates.		This will	also	

allow	for	better	standard	operating	procedures,	and	lead	to	developing a “check	list” type	of	

approach to	the	examination	process.		Training	personnel	will	become	easier	and	more effective if	

we	understand	how	to	increase	the	uniformity	of	these	mark-ups.		

Research	in	this area	will	provide	metrics regarding	which	steps	and	processes	produce	significant	

errors.

Research	will	measure	the	value	of	mark-up	consistency	on	evaluation	decisions	made	by	

examiners.

I
Version	1	/	Date	of	Issue:	10.29.15	/	Issuing	Authority:	Forensic	Science	Standards	Board	(FSSB)

// Approval	date:

(Approval	is	by	majority	vote	of	subcommittee.		Once	approved,	forward	to	SAC.)

1.		Does	the	SAC	agree	with	the	research	need?				Yes					 ⃝	

2.		Does	the	SAC	agree	with	the	status assessment?				Yes								⃝	

If	no,	what	is	the	status assessment	of	the	SAC:

Approval	date:

(Approval	is	by	majority	vote	of	SAC.		Once	approved,	forward	to	NIST	for	posting.)

Subcommittee 01/29/2016

SA

C

17-Mar-2016
Version	1	/	Date	of	Issue:	10.29.15	/	Issuing	Authority:	Forensic	Science	Standards	Board	(FSSB)

APPENDIX	“A”

Hicklin,	R.	A.,	Buscaglia,	J.,	Roberts,	M.	A.,	Fellner,	W.,	Burge,	M.	J.,	Monaco,		M.,		Vera,		D.,		Pantzer,		L.		R.,		

C.,		Y.		C.,		and	Unnikumaran,	T.	N.,	"Latent	Fingerprint	Quality:	A	Survey	of	Examiners",	Journal	of	

Forensic	Identification,	vol.	61	(4),	pp.	385-418,	2011.

Langenburg,		G.,		"A		Method		Performance		Pilot		Study:			Testing		the	Accuracy,		Precision,		Repeatability,		

Reproducibility,		and	Biasability		of		the		ACE-V		Process",		Journal		of		Forensic	

Identification,	vol.	59	(2),	pp.	219-257,	2009.

Neumann,	C.,	Champod,	C.,	Yoo,	M.,	Genessay,	T.,	and	Langenburg,	G.	(2013),	Improving	the	

understanding	and	the	reliability	of	the	concept	of	“sufficiency”	in	friction	ridge	examination,	National	

Institute	of	Justice,	Washington	DC.	https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/244231.pdf

Swofford,	H.,	Steffan,	S.,	Warner,	G.,	Bridge,	C.,	Salyards,	J.,	“Inter- and	Intra-Examiner	Variation	in	the	

Detection	of	Friction	Ridge	Skin	Minutiae”,	Journal	of	Forensic	Identification,	vol.	63 (5),	pp.	553-570,	

2013.

Ulery,		B.		T.,		Hicklin,		R.		A.,		Buscaglia,		J.,		and		Roberts,		M.		A.,		"A	Study		of		the		Accuracy		and		Reliability		

of		Forensic		Latent	Fingerprint		Decisions",		Proceedings		of		the		National	

Academy		of		Sciences		USA,		2011,	http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1018707108.

Ulery,	B.T.,	Hicklin,	R.A.,	Kiebuzinski,	G.	I.,	Roberts,	M.A.,	Buscaglia,	J.,	“Understanding	the	sufficiency	of	

information	for	latent	fingerprint	value	determinations”,	Forensic	Science	International,	vol.	230,	pp.	99-

106,	2013.Ulery,	B.	T.,	Hicklin,	R.	A.,	Roberts,	M.	A.,	Buscaglia,	J.,	Measuring	What	Latent	Fingerprint	

Examiners	Consider	Sufficient	Information	for	Individualization	Determinations.	PLoS	ONE	9(11),	2014.

Ulery,	B.	T.,	Hicklin,	R.	A.,	Roberts,	M.	A.,	Buscaglia,	J.,	“Changes	in	latent	fingerprint	examiners'	markup	

between	analysis	and	comparison”, Forensic	Sci	Int., 247,	pp.	54-61, 2015.