If you’re looking for a journal to showcase your latest research findings, consider exploring these two publications that focus on statistics and forensic science.

Statistics and Data Science in Imaging

Statistics and Data Science in Imaging (SDSI) is a new journal from the American Statistical Association (ASA) dedicated to advancing the processing, modeling and analysis of imaging data across diverse fields. SDSI addresses a significant need in academia by providing a platform where statisticians, data scientists, and imaging researchers can share their innovations, tackle challenges, and explore interdisciplinary approaches. Unlike traditional journals, SDSI does not publish issues. Articles will be released on a rolling basis. The first two volumes are available now.

The first volume included an article by Karen Kafadar, CSAFE co-director, and Alicia Carriquiry, CSAFE director, titled “Challenges in Modeling, Interpreting, and Drawing Conclusions from Images as Forensic Evidence.”

To learn more about SDSI and how to submit an article, visit https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/usdi20.

Forensic Sciences Research

Forensic Sciences Research (FSR) is published by the Academy of Forensic Science (AFS) and features the latest research across various disciplines of forensic sciences. The journal aims to promote the field of forensic science through high-quality research articles, reviews, case reports, and letters to the editor. FSR is currently accepting submissions.

For more information about FSR, visit https://academic.oup.com/fsr.

In September, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released a new report titled “Strategic Opportunities to Advance Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward Through Research and Standards.”

Following an extensive literature review and input from researchers, forensic practitioners and others, NIST identified four “grand challenges” facing the forensic science community. The report outlined strategies designed to tackle these challenges through focused research and development and the adoption of standards.

The four challenges highlighted in the report are:

• Accuracy and reliability of complex methods and techniques for analysis of forensic evidence.
  Quantify and establish statistically rigorous measures of accuracy and reliability of complex methods and techniques for forensic evidence analysis that clearly demonstrate their validity when applied to evidence of varying quality.
• New methods and techniques for analysis of forensic evidence.
  Develop new methods and techniques for forensic evidence analysis, including those that leverage the benefits of algorithms and next-generation technologies, such as AI, to provide rapid analyses of forensic evidence and produce new analytical insights from complex forensic evidence.
• Science-based standards and guidelines for forensic science practices.
  Develop rigorous science-based standards, conformity assessment schemes, and guidelines across forensic science disciplines to support consistent and comparable results from forensic analyses among laboratories and jurisdictions.
• Adoption and use of advanced forensic analysis methods, techniques, standards and guidelines.
  Promote the adoption and use of advances in forensic science standards, guidelines, methods, and techniques aimed at improving the validity, reliability, and consistency of forensic science practices.

NIST emphasized the importance of these efforts in a news release, stating,  “By addressing these shared challenges, the forensic science community will strengthen the foundations of our criminal justice system, ensuring fairness and impartiality while also preserving public safety and public trust.”

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has finalized the report Bitemark Analysis: A NIST Scientific Review.

The report details the findings from a NIST review of the scientific foundations of bitemark analysis, a forensic technique used to compare the marks on the skin of a biting victim with the teeth of a potential biter.

Following a short introduction on how the review was conducted, the report includes chapters on:

• Background information on bitemark analysis, including the principles and practices involved in bitemark analysis and comparison.
• Data and information sources used in the review and how they were located.
• Important factors that influence the reliability of bitemark analysis.
• Thoughts on future directions of bitemark analysis.

A draft report was first published in October 2022 and was open for public comments through Dec. 12, 2022. The finalized report includes minor updates based on public comments received.

Supplemental information is available, including the October 2019 CSAFE Bitemark Thinkshop Report. The Center for Statistics and Applications in Forensic Evidence (CSAFE) hosted a NIST-funded meeting in 2019 where forensic dentists, researchers, statisticians, lawyers and other experts addressed scientific questions about bitemark analysis. The meeting summary was written by Alicia Carriquiry, CSAFE director, and Hal Stern, CSAFE co-director, and helped to inform the NIST scientific review.

NIST hosted a three-hour webinar to discuss the draft report and its finding on Oct. 27, 2022. A recording of the webinar is available at https://www.nist.gov/news-events/events/2022/10/webinar-bitemark-analysis-nist-scientific-foundation-review.

More details about the report can be found at https://www.nist.gov/spo/forensic-science-program/bitemark-analysis-nist-scientific-foundation-review.

The Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science (OSAC) released its 2022 Registry Implementation Survey results. The report provides a detailed look at the implementation status of the 95 standards posted on the OSAC Registry through June 2022.

The survey is designed to help OSAC better understand how the standards on the OSAC Registry are being used, the challenges around standards implementation and what support is needed to improve it.

The report includes several key takeaways from the survey, including that 128 out of 177 survey respondents reported that their organization had fully or partially implemented one standard on the OSAC registry. Also, of the 95 standards included in the survey, 94 are being implemented.

The OSAC Registry Implementation Survey: 2022 Report is available at https://www.nist.gov/osac/osac-registry-implementation-survey.

The OSAC Registry is a repository of published and proposed standards for forensic science that define best define best practices, standard protocols and other guidance to ensure the results of forensic analysis are valid, reliable and reproducible. For more information about the OSAC Registry, visit https://www.nist.gov/osac/osac-registry.

From page 11 of the OSAC Registry Implementation Survey: 2022 Report:

Priority for Implementing Standards: 2021 & 2022 Comparison
According to the 177 respondents to the 2022 survey, implementation was seen as a higher priority compared to the 155 respondents in the 2021 survey.