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) 22:53–60.
• 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) 71:85–86.
• 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) 77:6715–6719.
• 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)
77:65–73.
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) 77:75–91.
• Newspaper Articles
Warrick, P. King County Sheriff's Latent Lab assist in Akron
PD homicide investigation, Pacific NW IAI Examiner, July-December
1999, pp. 12–13.
• 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 4–6,
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. 127–132.
• 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. 225–234.
• 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) 17:59–64.
• 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. 101–109.
• 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 test—An
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.
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please visit www.fbi.gov/privacy.htm.
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