Manuscripts must
be written in clear and concise language. Manuscripts must be logically
organized, progressing from a statement of purpose, through analysis
of procedures or evidence, to conclusions and implications. Manuscripts
are evaluated according to the following criteria: significance
of contribution, technical accuracy, appropriateness for the journal
audience, clarity, effectiveness of presentation, and pertinent
references.
Manuscripts
will be reviewed by at least two subject professionals, who remain
anonymous. Authors may suggest the names of reviewers.
The Managing
Editor of Forensic Science Communications reserves the right
to edit manuscripts for style, grammar, punctuation, and readability.
Inclusion of
a manuscript in Forensic Science Communications does not
represent an endorsement or recommendation by the U.S. Government,
the U.S. Department of Justice, or the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Authors assume total responsibility for the content and accuracy
of their submissions.
Send manuscripts
and other information relating to the journal to the Managing Editor
at labfsc@ic.fbi.gov.
Submissions
may be in the following forms:
Letter to the Editor: A brief communication presenting new technical
information, discussing a previously published paper, or requesting
information.
Review Article: A basic introduction and overview of new scientific methods
and areas of forensic research or interest.
Research Paper or Feature Article: An in-depth discussion of current methods
and specific aspects of various procedures or instrumentation.
Technical Article: A step-by-step description of specific analytical procedures,
detailing the materials and methods used and evaluating the results.
Technical Note or Case Report: A new application of an existing technique
or instructive findings on an unusual case.
Book Review: A summary and analysis of a book or publication.
All manuscript
submissions must adhere to the following guidelines. Manuscripts
will be returned to the contributing authors to conform to these
guidelines prior to being sent to peer reviewers. To view the format
of recently published manuscripts, click on the following link:
www.fbi.gov/hq/lab/fsc/current/index.htm.
- The title page must include a concise title, the complete names, position titles, and current affiliations with city, state, and country of all authors and the name, complete address, telephone number, telefax number, and e-mail address of the contact author.
- The manuscript must be
written in Microsoft Word with single spacing in paragraphs and
double spacing between paragraphs. Left justify the title, author
information, headings, and the text. Use Arial font (10 points
for the text and 14 points bold for the title and headings). Do
not use unnecessary formatting codes. Use italics and bolding
only when necessary.
- Do not use abbreviations or acronyms in the manuscript.
- Images
(i.e., photographs, charts, graphs, tables) must be submitted
in separate, labeled (Figure 1, Figure 2) TIF or JPG files. Do
not embed the images in the manuscript text. All images must be
referred to in the text. Reduce the image resolution as much as
possible. All images must include a concise caption.
- When reference is made to a specific product, the name of the manufacturer and the city and state of the manufacturer's headquarters must be included in parentheses in the text.
- All references
in the reference list must be referred to in the text. References
in the text must be in parentheses and include the author's last
name and year of publication (Anderson and Brown 1993). When citing
a paper written by three or more authors, write the name of the
first author and et al. (Anderson et al. 1992; Brown et al. 1991).
Reference the authors alphabetically and then chronologically
in the parentheses. Adhere to the spacing and punctuation standard.
- All references must be complete and accurate. The Managing Editor may request a copy of the full text of the referenced document to confirm its accuracy. The reference section must be arranged alphabetically by author's last name and then chronologically. The complete journal title must be listed. Punctuation, spacing, and use of italics must adhere to the standard.
Journal Article,
Single Author
Richards,
G. B. The application of electronic video techniques to infrared
and ultraviolet examinations, Journal of Forensic Sciences
(1977) 22:5360.
Journal Article, Two Authors
Verdú
Pascual, F. A. and Gisbert Grifo, M. S. Investigation of bloodstains:
False negative results of the benzedrine test, Forensic Science
International (1995) 71:8586.
Journal Article, Multiple Authors
Giles,
R. E., Blanc, H., Cann, H. M., and Wallace, D. C. Maternal inheritance
of human mitochondrial DNA, Proceedings of the National Academy
of Sciences (1980) 77:67156719.
Journal Article, No Author
Special
report: A buying guide to products and services for the textile
wet processing industry, Textile Chemist and Colorist,
July 1998.
Journal Article, in Press
Budowle,
B., Moretti, T. R., Baumstark, A. L., Defenbaugh, D. A., and
Keys, K. M. Population data on the thirteen CODIS core short
tandem repeat loci in African Americans, U.S. Caucasians, Hispanics,
Bahamians, Jamaicans, and Trinidadians, Journal of Forensic
Sciences (in press).
Multipart Journal Article
Biermann,
T. W. and Grieve, M. C. A computerized data base of mail order
garments: A contribution toward estimating the frequency of
fibre types found in clothing. Part 1: The system and its operation,
Forensic Science International (1996) 77:6573.
Biermann,
T. W. and Grieve, M. C. A computerized data base of mail order
garments: A contribution toward estimating the frequency of
fibre types found in clothing. Part 2: The content of the data
bank and its statistical evaluation, Forensic Science International
(1996) 77:7591.
Newspaper Articles
Warrick,
P. King County Sheriff's Latent Lab assist in Akron PD homicide
investigation, Pacific NW IAI Examiner, July-December
1999, pp. 1213.
Article in Published Meeting Proceedings
Kidd,
G. J. What quality means to an R&D organization. In: 41st
Annual Quality Congress Transactions. American Society for
Quality Control, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, May 46,
1987.
Unpublished Presentation (Meeting)
Houck,
M. M. The Limits of Computing in Forensic Science. Presented
at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, Seattle, Washington,
1995.
Published Report, No Author
Report
of a Symposium on the Practice of Forensic Serology, Method
Evaluation (Topic 4).
Sponsored by the California Department of Justice Bureau of
Forensic Services, California Association of Criminalists, and
the UNISYS Corporation, 1996.
Book or Entire Volume, Single Author
White,
T. D. Human Osteology. Academic Press, San Diego, California,
1991.
Book or Entire Volume, Two Authors
Billmeyer,
F. W. and Saltzman, M. Principles of Color Technology.
John Wiley, New York, 1981.
Book or Entire Volume, Multiple Authors
Windholz,
M., Budavari, S., Stroumtsos, L. Y., and Fertig, M. N. The
Merck Index. 9th ed., Elsevier, Rahway, New Jersey, 1996.
Book or Entire Volume, No Author
RN
and WPL Encyclopedia.
Salesman's Guide Press, Richmond, Virginia, 1999.
Handbook With Editors
Bicking,
C. A. and Gryna, F. M. Process control by statistical methods.
In: Quality Control Handbook. 3d ed., J. M. Juran, ed.,
Section 23. McGraw-Hill, New York, 1979.
Article or Chapter in a Book or Collective Work
Monson,
K. L. and Budowle, B. A system for semi-automated analysis of
DNA autoradiograms. In: Proceedings of the International
Symposium on the Forensic Aspects of DNA Analysis. U.S.
Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 1989, pp. 127132.
Article or Chapter in a Book or Collective Work With Editors
Landfield,
P. W. Stress theory of aging. In: The Encyclopedia of Aging.
2nd ed., G. L. Maddox, ed. Springer, New York, 1995.
Neave,
R. Age changes to the face in adulthood. In: Craniofacial
Identification in Forensic Medicine. J. G. Clement and D.
L. Ranson, eds. Oxford University Press, New York, 1998, Part
3, pp. 225234.
Article or Chapter in a Book or Collective Work, in Press
Budowle,
B., Moretti, T. R., Niezgoda, S. J., and Brown, B. L. CODIS
and PCR-based short tandem repeat loci: Law enforcement tools.
In: Second European Symposium on Human Identification 1998.
Promega Corporation, Madison, Wisconsin (in press).
Online Article
Kolb,
S. E. Facial rejuvenation: Prevention and treatment of facial
aging due to gravity, expression lines, inherited facial features,
and stress, Panorama of Plastic Surgery [Online]. (March
24, 1998). Available: http://plastikos.com/art-facegrav.htm.
Organization as Author
AABB
Standards Committee. P7.000 DNA polymorphism testing. In: Standards
for Parentage Testing Laboratories. 1st ed., American Association
of Blood Banks, Arlington, Virginia, 1990.
Scientific Working Group (SWG) as Author
Scientific
Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods. Guidelines for a proficiency
testing program for DNA restriction fragment length polymorphism
analysis, Crime Laboratory Digest (1990) 17:5964.
Government Publications
Bond,
W. W. Safety in the forensic immunology laboratory. In: Proceedings
of the International Symposium on Forensic Immunology. U.S.
Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 1987, pp. 101109.
User's Guides, Equipment Manuals, Company Materials
Perkin-Elmer
Applied Biosystems. AmpFLSTR® Profiler Plus PCR
Amplification Kit User's Manual. Perkin-Elmer Corporation,
Foster City, California, 1997.
Federal Codes, Laws, Rules, and Regulations
Federal
Trade Commission Rules and Regulations under the Textile Products
Identification Act,
Title 15, U.S. Code section 70, et seq. 16 CFR 303.7.
Legal Cases
Daubert
v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 US, 579 (1993).
Frye
v. United States,
54 App. D.C. 46, 293 F. 1013, 1014 (1923).
Personal Communications
Knoop,
D. Allied Signal, personal communication, March 22, 1999.
Thesis
Castelló,
P. A. Critical review of presumptive tests in bloodstain
investigations: False negatives in Adler's testAn application
of forensic chemistry. Doctoral thesis, University of Valencia,
Spain, 1997.
Thesis, in preparation
Bailey-Darland,
C. M. Validation of polymerase chain reaction analysis of
short tandem repeat loci for casework within the Oregon State
Police Forensic Laboratory. Master's thesis in preparation,
Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, 2000.
To review
the Privacy and Security Notice for the FBI Web site, please visit
www.fbi.gov/privacy.htm.
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