- Journal of Advanced Forensic Sciences
- ISSN 2692-5915
- Open access · CC BY 4.0
Aims and Scope
The Journal of Advanced Forensic Sciences publishes research across the forensic sciences: how physical, biological, chemical and digital evidence is recovered, analyzed, interpreted and reported.
What the journal sets out to do
- To publish rigorous research on the recovery, analysis, interpretation and reporting of forensic evidence in every forensic discipline.
- To strengthen the validation, reliability and statistical interpretation of forensic methods on which investigations and legal proceedings depend.
- To report evidence that informs forensic practice, laboratory quality and medicolegal and digital investigation in every region, including settings where resources for research are limited.
- To make this research openly available, so that scientists, practitioners, investigators, lawyers and educators can read and reuse it freely.
Research areas
JAFS considers research in any forensic discipline. The journal welcomes work from the laboratory, the scene, the mortuary, the clinic and the digital environment, and from the statistical and legal disciplines that bear on the evaluation of forensic evidence. The areas below are illustrative and form part of a wider field, including:
- Forensic chemistry, trace and contact evidence
- Drug analysis and seized-material examination
- Forensic toxicology and analytical toxicology
- Forensic biology, serology and body-fluid identification
- Forensic DNA analysis, population genetics and interpretation
- Fingerprints and other pattern evidence
- Forensic anthropology and human identification
- Forensic odontology
- Forensic pathology and medicolegal death investigation
- Wound analysis, injury biomechanics and clinical forensic medicine
- Firearms, ballistics and tool marks
- Forensic engineering and accident investigation
- Questioned documents and handwriting examination
- Digital and multimedia forensics
- Cyber-crime investigation and digital evidence
- Forensic entomology, botany and archaeology
- Forensic psychology and psychiatry
- Statistics, interpretation and reporting of forensic evidence
- Method validation, reliability and error rates
- Forensic science, law and the evaluation of evidence
Contributions from the chemical, biological, medical, engineering, computer, behavioral and statistical sciences are welcome when they address a forensic question. Analytical methods and their validation are one area among these, and method development is welcome in every area. A topic that is not named above is within scope when it meets that test.
Designs and approaches welcomed
JAFS considers quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods research. Studies are reported within the article types listed below; a validation experiment, for example, is submitted as a Method Validation Study and a casework-based survey as Original Research.
- Experimental and laboratory studies
- Controlled experiments, instrumental analysis, simulation of evidence and transfer, and studies of how evidence degrades and persists.
- Method validation
- Development, validation and verification of analytical, imaging and computational methods, with measures of accuracy, precision, sensitivity, specificity and uncertainty.
- Reliability and examiner performance
- Studies of error rates, black-box and white-box studies, proficiency and decision-making in forensic examination.
- Casework and field studies
- Analyses of casework materials, scene investigation, and field recovery and documentation methods.
- Medical and medicolegal studies
- Studies of death investigation, injury, identification and clinical forensic medicine.
- Databases and populations
- Reference datasets, allele and population frequency data, and the statistical evaluation of evidence.
- Digital and computational forensics
- Acquisition, analysis and authentication of digital evidence, and the performance of forensic software and algorithms.
- Qualitative and mixed methods
- Interview, observational and documentary research on forensic practice, alone or combined with quantitative data.
- Evidence synthesis
- Systematic reviews, meta-analyses and critical reviews of the forensic literature.
What makes a manuscript a fit
Manuscripts are assessed for their relevance to the forensic sciences, the soundness of their methods and whether their conclusions are proportionate to the evidence. Clinical, medicolegal, behavioral and digital research is considered when it addresses a forensic question.
-
Case reports
Case Reports, including short case series, are accepted when the case carries a lesson for forensic practice or research, such as an unusual finding, a technique applied to casework or a methodological pitfall.
-
Legal and digital-evidence research
Research on digital evidence, cyber-crime investigation and the legal and procedural treatment of forensic evidence is accepted when it rests on data, case analysis or a systematic review of authority, and addresses a question about how forensic evidence is obtained, evaluated or used.
-
Commentaries and letters
Commentaries and Letters are accepted when they make a reasoned argument, supported by evidence and cited sources, on a forensic question or on work published in JAFS.
Unsupported opinion, meaning assertion without evidence or reasoned argument, is outside the journal's scope.
Article types
The journal publishes the article types below. Guidance on the structure, abstract and reporting standard for each type is given in the Instructions for Authors.
- Original ResearchEmpirical studies in any forensic discipline, including experimental, observational, casework-based, population and reliability studies.
- Method Validation StudyDevelopment, validation or verification of a forensic method, with the performance data that show it is fit for its purpose.
- Systematic Review and Meta-AnalysisSystematic syntheses of evidence on a defined forensic question, with or without meta-analysis.
- ReviewNarrative, critical and methodological reviews, including Mini-Reviews, that organize and interpret a body of forensic literature.
- Short CommunicationConcise reports of a focused or preliminary finding of forensic importance.
- Technical NoteConcise descriptions of a technique, instrument, procedure or software tool, with evidence that it works.
- Data NoteDescriptions of datasets of forensic value, their collection, quality and access.
- Case ReportIndividual cases or short case series with a lesson for forensic practice or research.
- CommentaryEvidence-based argument on a current forensic question or on published research.
- LetterBrief responses to articles published in JAFS, or short observations of forensic relevance.
Where a manuscript sits between types, authors choose the closest type and explain the choice in the cover letter, and the editors confirm the classification. A Mini-Review is classified as a Review, a scoping review as a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis, a short case series as a Case Report, and a validation of a method on a small sample as a Technical Note or Method Validation Study according to its depth.
Scope questions
Is my topic within scope?
A manuscript is within scope when it addresses a question about forensic evidence or forensic practice, whatever its discipline. If you are unsure, send the title and abstract to the editorial office at info@openaccesspub.org before submitting.
Does JAFS consider forensic medicine, pathology, psychology and psychiatry?
Yes. Research in forensic pathology, clinical forensic medicine, forensic psychology and forensic psychiatry is within scope when it addresses a forensic question.
Does JAFS consider legal or cyber-crime topics?
Yes, when the work is research: it rests on data, case analysis or a systematic review, and addresses a question about forensic or digital evidence. Unsupported opinion is outside the scope.
Can I submit work that has been posted as a preprint?
Yes. Posting a preprint is compatible with submission to JAFS. Cite the preprint and its DOI in the cover letter.
Preparing a submission
Read the Instructions for Authors and the Editorial Policies before submitting.