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Response to Recommendation 2 of the 2009 NAS Report—Standards for Formatting and Reporting Expert Evaluative Opinions: Where Do We Stand?

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-18, 01:42 authored by Loene HowesLoene Howes, Martire, KA, Sally Kelty
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.

History

Publication title

Forensic Science Policy & Management

Volume

5

Issue

1-2

Pagination

1-14

ISSN

1940-9044

Department/School

School of Social Sciences

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Place of publication

United Kingdom

Rights statement

Copyright 2014 Taylor and Francis

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Criminal justice

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