Over four years ago, the 2009 US National Academy of Sciences report on forensic science was published, revealing that few formal standards existed in the forensic sciences. The second recommendation of the NAS report related to the language of reporting. This two-fold recommendation urged that templates for expert reports be developed and that the language and terminology of the reports and related expert testimony be standardized. This paper offers a response to Recommendation 2 of the NAS report and a research update. Since the release of the NAS report, Standards Australia has developed a set of forensic standards, including one for reporting. In light of Recommendation 2 of the NAS report and the Australian Standard for reporting, we outline current reporting practices of forensic science in the Australian context, and review research about the communication of forensic science, highlighting recent Australian research undertaken at two universities. We discuss the progress made to date in the development of best practice in expert reports and language use, introduce new directions for developing communicative excellence amongst forensic scientists, and suggest future research directions.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	forensic science, expert reports, templates, terminology, communication
Research Division:	Studies in Human Society
Research Group:	Criminology
Research Field:	Police Administration, Procedures and Practice
Objective Division:	Law, Politics and Community Services
Objective Group:	Justice and the Law
Objective Field:	Criminal Justice
Author:	Howes, LM (Dr Loene Howes)
Author:	Kelty, SF (Dr Sally Kelty)
ID Code:	92696
Year Published:	2014
Deposited By:	Social Sciences
Deposited On:	2014-06-25
Last Modified:	2015-05-04
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