This association is dedicated to the application of evidence-based criminal profiling techniques within investigative and legal venues. Their goal is to foster the development of a class of practitioners capable of raising the discipline of evidence-based behavioral profiling to the status of a profession.
The Academy is the education and training arm of the American Board of Forensic Psychology. It was organized for the purpose of contributing to the development and maintenance of forensic psychology as a specialized field of study, research, and practice. It is approved by the American Psychological Association.
A professional society dedicated for over 50 years to the application of science to the law. The AAFS publishes the
Journal of Forensic Sciences. The Resources section includes forensic science programs at universities and colleges worldwide, information on the forensic sciences as a career (an excellent overview of the various subspecialties in the forensic sciences), and links to forensic science organizations and publications.
The AAPL promotes scientific and educational activities in forensic psychiatry. They sponsor continuing education programs, develop ethical guidelines, provide a forum for the presentation of the results of research, develop guidelines for education and training, and facilitate the exchange of ideas through the
Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.
The AAAG was established in 1994 as an educational and scientific organization. Its purpose is to promote the study of anthropological genetics, facilitate communication between individuals in the field, and foster cooperation among anthropological geneticists. The AAAG publishes Human Biology.
The AAPA is the world’s leading professional organization for physical anthropologists. Forensic anthropologists use their knowledge of osteology and anatomy to make forensic determinations and identifications involving human remains. The AAPA publishes the
American Journal of Physical Anthropology.
The ABC is a federation of regional and national organizations that represent forensic scientists. This organization is involved in the certification of criminalists. It has developed rules of professional conduct with disciplinary actions for behavior contrary to these rules.
The ABFA provides a certification in forensic anthropology. It establishes standards of ethics, conduct, and professional practice in forensic anthropology in addition to its mandate to establish and enhance standards that advance the science of forensic anthropology.
The ABFDE is the only certifying board for forensic document examiners recognized by the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, the American Society of Questioned Document Examiners, and the Canadian Society of Forensic Scientists.
The ABFE constitutes the first step toward a professional organization with strict educational, ethical and maintenance standards. The ABFE site provides a short but informative overview of the science and history of forensic entomology, as well as case studies in forensic entomology.
The American Board of Forensic Odontology was organized in 1976 under the auspices of the National Institute of Justice, with the mission to establish, enhance, and revise as necessary, standards of qualifications for those who practice forensic odontology, and to certify as qualified specialists those voluntary applicants who comply with the requirements of the Board. Detailed ABFO guidelines on human identification, bitemarks, development of a dental ID team and missing person and unidentified body cases are available in the
ID & Bitemark Guidelines section.
ABFP is responsible for the diplomating (credentialing) process in forensic psychology.
The objective of the Board is to establish, enhance, and revise as necessary, standards of qualification for those who practice forensic toxicology, and to certify as qualified specialists those voluntary applicants who comply with the requirements of the Board. The Board also establishes, enhances, and maintains standards of qualification for those laboratories that practice postmortem forensic toxicology, and accredits as qualified laboratories those applicants who comply with the requirements of the Board.
ABMDI is a national, independent certification board established to promote the highest standards of practice for medicolegal death investigators. This is a voluntary certification program for individuals who have the proven knowledge and skills necessary to perform medicolegal death investigations as set forth in
Death investigation: A guide for the scene investigator, published in 1999 by the National Institutes of Justice.
Established in 1977, this organization provides a program of certification in forensic document examination with the dual purpose of serving the public interest and promoting the advancement of forensic science. Current employment opportunities are listed in the Jobs section, and the Links section has some interesting links to cases involving questioned documents and legal issues.
The College is an independent, scientific and professional society with a multi-disciplinary scope. The society's purpose is the continued advancement of forensic examination and consultation across the many professional fields of forensics. The society publishes the
Forensic Examiner and provides workshops and continuing education courses.
The Association is dedicated to providing a valid and reliable means to verify the truth and establish the highest standards of moral, ethical, and professional conduct in the polygraph field. The Web site includes a code of ethics, standards of practice, a quick guide to the law relating to polygraphs, and an FAQ.
The ASIP is a society of biomedical scientists whose role it is to investigate mechanisms of disease. The Society publishes the
American Journal of Pathology.
The American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors (ASCLD) is a nonprofit professional society formed in 1974 and devoted to the improvement of crime laboratory operations through sound management practices. In the Forensic Links section links are arranged into three categories: Forensic related links, advocacy-related links and safety-related links. The Forensic Students section has an overview of what is needed to become a forensic scientist as well as information on the career itself (how much one makes, the type of work environment). For the practicing forensic scientist, the Employment section lists current job postings.
The ASFO is the largest worldwide organization representing those interested in forensic dentistry. The site includes downloadable identification forms, links to related resources, a guide to forensic odontology books, research grants information, and information on courses and meetings.
The ASQDE was established in 1942. The purposes of the Society are to foster education, sponsor scientific research, establish standards, exchange experience, provide instruction in the field of questioned document examination, and promote justice in matters that involve questions about documents. The site has a current database of court decisions relating to expert testimony about handwriting and document comparisons. ASQDE publishes the
Journal of the American Society of Questioned Document Examiners.
The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) is an agency of the Department of Defense specializing in pathology consultation, education, and research. The site provides instructions on submitting consultation requests in surgical pathology and autopsy through an online form. All AFIP departments are represented on the site.
The Office of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner presents autopsy diagrams and information on the Department of Defenses DNA specimen repository and Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory. Its Forensic Toxicology Division provides guidelines for collection and shipment of toxicological analysis. The site also provides information on its medical education courses for physicians and professionals in other interrelated medical disciplines, some of which are available through the Internet.
The purpose of the ACSR is to encompass an understanding of the whole crime scene and the necessity of reconstructing that scene in order to better understand the elements of the crime and to recognize and preserve evidence. Members are law enforcement investigators, forensic experts, and teachers from all over the United States and a growing number of countries around the world.
The ACFE is a global, 31,000-member professional association whose members are dedicated to fighting fraud. One of their mandates is to provide anti-fraud training and education. The ACFE publishes
Fraud Magazine. The Web site has a resource library that includes an index to fraud information and articles.
The Society’s objectives are to enhance the quality of the forensic sciences providing both formal and informal lectures, discussions, and demonstrations encompassing the various disciplines within the science. The Web site has a Links section which is particularly useful to forensic scientists in Australia and New Zealand.
The Bureau of Legal Dentistry provides current bibliographies on "Human, Animal Bites," "DNA Methods," "Mass Fatalities," "Human Identification," "Domestic Violence," and "Dental Jurisprudence" in the Research area.
The Canadian Society of Forensic Science is a non-profit professional organization incorporated to maintain professional standards and to promote the study and enhance the stature of forensic science. The CSFS publishes the
Canadian Society of Forensic Science Journal. The STR DNA Data link is particularly interesting, as it leads to the Population Studies Data Centre, which provides raw DNA data and frequency tables by ethnic groups from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Centre of Forensic Sciences in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
EPIC is a worldwide organization of evidence photographers. It provides workshops (including the School of Evidence Photography) and conferences on forensic photography, and has created standards for evidence photography.
The FBI Web site provides access to thousands of pages of frequently requested FBI documents (case files) through the
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Electronic Reading Room. Documents are accessible through an alphabetical index and crime type categories. Some portions are withheld under exemptions allowed by FOIA. The files are viewed using the Adobe Acrobat Reader and are often split into several files because of their size.
The FBI has been involved in many famous cases since its founding in 1908. The Office of Public and Congressional Affairs (OPCA) has prepared monographs on some of the most frequently requested, closed investigations. The monographs, arranged alphabetically and by crime, should be considered to be overviews rather than exhaustive treatments.
The Web site is home to three publications of the FBI: Forensic Science Communications (the journal of the FBI Laboratory), the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin and the Handbook of Forensic Services.
This British society is a worldwide organization of fingerprint examination professionals. Its aim is to advance the study and application of fingerprints and to facilitate the cooperation among persons in the field of personal identification. The Society publishes
Fingerprint Whorld.
Founded in 1959, this British multidisciplinary society is dedicated to the application of science to the cause of justice. The Forensic Science Society publishes the journal
Science & Justice. The Web Links section allows you to search the Forensic Science Society's WebLinks Database by keyword to find links. In the Publications section is a
keyword-searchable index to articles in the
Journal of the Forensic Science Society and
Science & Justice. The Society also maintains a
keyword index to book reviews published in its journal.
The purpose of the HTCIA is to encourage, promote, aid, and effect the voluntary interchange of data, information, experience, ideas, and knowledge about methods, processes, and techniques relating to investigations and security in advanced technologies among its membership. The Association holds conferences and seminars for members. The Web site has a forensic toolkit that includes links to computer crime-related sites.
The IACI, formed in 1988, is an organization comprised mainly of medical and scientific professionals throughout the world who specialize in forensic odontology, forensic anthropology, 2- and 3-dimensional skull reconstruction techniques, computer-based skull reconstruction, facial aging for law enforcement, and facial mapping, as well as composite sketching.
The Craniofacial Identification Links are particularly useful. Craniofacial Identification Links are arranged into two columns with no annotations. Links range from traditional to computerized methods of craniofacial reconstruction.
The IAFPA seeks to foster research and provide a forum for the interchange of ideas and information on practice, development, and research in forensic phonetics and acoustics. It also sets down and enforces standards of professional conduct and procedure for those involved in forensic phonetic and acoustic casework through its Code of Practice. The journal of the IAFPA is the
International Journal of Speech, Language and the Law: Forensic Linguistics.
The International Association for Identification was incorporated in 1919. The Association publishes the
Journal of Forensic Identification. The Links section lists a hodge-podge of identification links. The Job Listings section contains current job ads.
I.A.A.R.S. was established as a resource for members to use when the inevitable questions arose while trying to reconstruct a crash. The Association provides seminars and other development opportunities. Membership is peer reviewed to provide for greater acceptability of members as expert witnesses to judges.
The goal of this association of fire investigation professionals, is to foster, support, and promote fire prevention and arson awareness through education and training. The website has a links section organized by industry topic. They conduct annual and regional seminars, administer the Certified Fire Investigator program, and publish the quarterly publication, The Fire and Arson Investigator.
The IABPA is an organization of forensic experts specializing in the field of bloodstain pattern analysis. The IABPA publishes the
IABPA Newsletter. The purpose of the IABPA is to promote education and encourage research in the field of bloodstain pattern analysis. The IABPA also encourages the study and research of, and promotes the standardization of, bloodstain pattern analysis training and terminology.
Founded in 1973, the IABTI was formed for the purpose of countering the criminal use of explosives. It is an independent, non-profit professional association. The site provides information on the organization and links to
explosives manufacturers. Links to explosives manufacturers are limited to advertisers in
The Detonator and exhibitors at the International Association of Bomb Technicians and Investigators (IABTI) regional and international conferences. Links to bomb squad Web sites are accessible only to members.
IACIS is an international volunteer non-profit corporation composed of law enforcement professionals dedicated to the education and certification of law enforcement professionals in the field of forensic computer science. The Web site includes the association’s code of ethics and procedures for the forensic examination of computers and digital and electronic media.
This organization is comprised primarily of linguists whose work involves the law. This means linguistic evidence in court such as authorship attribution, disputed confessions, interpreting and translating in court, the readability/comprehensibility of legal documents, and interviews with children in the legal system. The Association’s Web site includes a useful, searchable bibliography of notable references about forensic linguistics.
The IAFN the only international professional organization of registered nurses formed exclusively to develop, promote, and disseminate information about the science of forensic nursing. This covers the application of nursing science to public or legal proceedings, and the application of the forensic aspects of health care to the scientific investigation and treatment of trauma and/or death of victims and perpetrators of abuse, violence, criminal activity and traumatic accidents. The Association is also involved in the certification of forensic nurses through the Forensic Nursing Certification Board. The Web site has a Resources link that contains useful sources of information in this area, including a compilation of publications. The official journal of the IAFN is the
Journal of Forensic Nursing.
Founded in 1963, this association groups over 1,400 members from all regions of the world. The aims of this association are to promote cooperation and coordination of efforts among members and to encourage research in forensic toxicology. The members come from the police force, medical examiners and coroners' laboratories, horseracing and sports doping laboratories, hospitals, and departments of legal medicine, pharmacology, pharmacy, and toxicology. Enter the Open Area for resources for nonmembers. The Observatory provides a list of Web sites arranged by categories (on the left menu bar). Also useful is the MS Library, collections of homemade reference electron impact mass spectra of derivatives produced by TIAFT members and made available freely on the Internet. The intention is to complete commercial databases with new upcoming or uncommon substances or less frequent derivatives of drugs.
The IAIL is a group of locksmiths, security professionals, police officers, insurance investigators, and others with an interest in the benefits of investigative locksmithing to the community. Members provide technical advice to the insurance industry, community protection groups, and law enforcement.
The ICSIA was created to assist law enforcement personnel who are involved in the processing of crime scenes. It is strictly Internet based. Its focus is to allow practitioners to directly discuss techniques and tips, or to share other pertinent information with crime scene personnel throughout the world.
The primary purpose of the IHIA is to assist and support law enforcement agencies and death investigation professionals by providing leadership, training, resources, and expertise that will enhance their ability to solve cases.
Formerly the International Society for Forensic Haemogenetics (ISFH), the ISFG is an international organization responsible for the promotion of scientific knowledge in the field of genetic markers analyzed with forensic purposes. It hosts several working groups with membership in these working groups based on the language of the member. One of the working groups is EDNAP, the European DNA Profiling Group, which consists of a group of forensic scientists from various European countries who came together to find a way of harmonizing DNA technology for crime investigation. The society’s bi-annual congress proceedings are published by Elsevier in the series
Progress in Forensic Genetics.
The purpose of the MSA is to promote and advance knowledge of the science and practice of all microscopical imaging, analysis and diffraction techniques useful for elucidating the ultrastructure and function of materials in diverse areas of biological, materials, medical and physical sciences. The MSA publishes the journal
Microscopy and Microanalysis.
The Academy was formed to serve the needs of those who serve as consultants to members of the legal profession and as expert witnesses. NAFE’s mission includes continuing education and the promotion of standards and ethics for its members.
Members of NADE are private document examiners who work with cases relating to suspect signatures, anonymous letters, graffiti, reading obliterations, disputed handwriting, disputed legal documents, altered medical records, and sequence of writing issues.
Membership in NAFE includes economists, accountants, finance and business professionals, vocational counselors, lawyers, and actuaries. Forensic economists work in such areas as business valuation, commercial litigation, employment litigation, and personal injury and wrongful death torts. NAFE publishes the
Journal of Forensic Economics.
NAME members include professional physician medical examiners, medical death investigators, and death investigation administrators who perform the official duties of the medicolegal investigation of deaths of public interest in the United States. NAME’s purposes are to foster professional growth of death investigators and to disseminate professional and technical information to improve death investigation.
NAPARS is a nonprofit organization whose members have joined together to share the challenge of dealing with the complex problems of accident reconstruction and to upgrade, and ultimately professionalize, the accident reconstruction field.
Established in 1988 as a national resource for molecular biology information, NCBI creates public databases, conducts research in computational biology, develops software tools for analyzing genome data, and disseminates biomedical information.
NIJ serves as the research, development, and evaluation agency of the U.S. Department of Justice. The institute provides objective, independent, evidence-based knowledge and tools to serve those in the fields of crime and justice, particularly at the state and local levels. The NIJ publishes many of its reports full text online. Follow the Publications link on the left-hand menu bar to access these publications. NIJ also produces the
National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) Abstracts Database, an index to more than 180,000 criminal justice publications.
SOFT, officially incorporated in 1983, is an organization composed of practicing forensic toxicologists and those interested in the discipline for the purpose of promoting and developing forensic toxicology. The
Toxilinks section is particularly useful.