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The Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science

OSAC Registry

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The OSAC Registry is a repository of high-quality, technically sound published and proposed standards for forensic science. These written documents define minimum requirements, best practices, standard protocols and other guidance to help ensure that the results of forensic analysis are valid, reliable and reproducible.

All the standards on this registry have passed a rigorous technical and quality review by OSAC members, including forensic science practitioners, research scientists, statisticians and legal experts. OSAC encourages the forensic science community to implement these published and proposed standards. 

 

The OSAC Registry includes two types of standards:

  • Published standards. These are fully developed standards that have been published by a standards developing organization (SDO).
  • OSAC Proposed Standards. These are new or revised standards that have been drafted by OSAC and sent to an SDO to be further developed and published. These proposed standards have undergone the same rigorous technical review as the published standards on this Registry. To help fill the standards gap during the time it takes for an SDO to complete the standards development process, OSAC encourages the forensic science community to implement these high-quality proposed standards. An OSAC Proposed Standard may be revised during the SDO development process, and once available, the SDO published standard will replace the OSAC Proposed Standard on the Registry.

As of June 6, 2023, the OSAC Registry contains 148 forensic science standards (105 published and 43 OSAC Proposed Standards) representing the following disciplines:

Anthropology | Biology/DNA | Bloodstain Pattern Analysis | Crime Scene Investigation | Digital Evidence | Dogs & Sensors | Facial Identification | Fire & Explosion Investigation | Fire Debris & Explosives | Firearms & Toolmarks | Footwear & Tire | Forensic Document Examination | Friction Ridge | Gunshot Residue | Medicolegal Death Investigation | Odontology | Seized Drugs | Speaker Recognition | Toxicology | Trace Evidence | Video/Imaging Technology & Analysis | Wildlife Forensics | Interdisciplinary 

Anthropology

Published Standards (1):

Biology/DNA

Published Standards (13):

OSAC Proposed Standards (5) - sent to ASB for further development and publication:

Bloodstain Pattern Analysis

Published Standards (2):

OSAC Proposed Standards (3) - sent to ASB for further development and publication:

Crime Scene Investigation & Reconstruction

OSAC Proposed Standards (5) - sent to ASB for further development and publication:

Digital Evidence

Published Standards (5):

Dogs & Sensors

Published Standards (4):

Facial Identification

Published Standards (4):

OSAC Proposed Standards (5) - sent to ASTM for further development and publication:

Fire & Explosion Investigation

Published Standards (2):

Fire Debris & Explosives

Published Standards (10):

Firearms & Toolmarks

Published Standards (6):

OSAC Proposed Standards (1) - sent to ASB for further development and publication:

Footwear & Tire

Published Standards (3):

Forensic Document Examination

Published Standards (1):

Friction Ridge

Published Standards (1):

OSAC Proposed Standards (3) - sent to ASB for further development and publication:

Gunshot Residue

Published Standards (2):

OSAC Proposed Standards (3) - sent to ASTM for further development and publication:

Medicolegal Death Investigation

Published Standards (7):

OSAC Proposed Standards (6) - sent to ASB for further development and publication:

Odontology

Published Standards (3):

OSAC Proposed Standards (1) - sent to an SDO for further development and publication:

Seized Drugs

Published Standards (7):

OSAC Proposed Standards (1) - sent to ASTM for further development and publication:

Speaker Recognition

Published Standards (1):

Toxicology

Published Standards (9):

OSAC Proposed Standards (1) - sent to ASB for further development and publication:

Trace Evidence

Published Standards (16):

OSAC Proposed Standards (4) - sent to ASTM for further development and publication:

Video/Imaging Technology & Analysis

Published Standards (2):

OSAC Proposed Standards (4) - sent to ASTM for further development and publication:

Wildlife Forensics

Published Standards (4):

OSAC Proposed Standards (2) - sent to ASB for further development and publication:

Interdisciplinary

Published Standards (6):

 

View previous versions of standards in the OSAC Registry Archive.

View the standards on the OSAC Registry by fiscal year (FY):

FY 2022 | FY 2021 | FY 2020 | FY 2019 | FY 2018 | FY 2017 | FY 2016 

Learn more about:

Forensic Science and Law enforcement
Created October 27, 2015, Updated June 13, 2023