April 2025
The Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC) for Forensic Science's Standards Bulletin provides a monthly update on forensic science standards moving through the OSAC Registry approval process and development process at standards developing organizations (SDOs).
OSAC Registry Updates
New standards
The following four standards (one OSAC Proposed and three SDO-published) have been added to the OSAC Registry (effective April 1, 2025):
- OSAC 2025-N-0017, Standard Terminology Relating to Trace Materials Analysis.
- SWGDE 12-F-004-3.2 Best Practices for Vehicle Infotainment and Telematics Systems.
- SWGDE 23-F-003-1.0 Best Practices for Internet of Things Seizure and Analysis.
- SWGDE 23-F-004.1.1 Best Practices for Digital Evidence Acquisition, Preservation, and Analysis from Cloud Service Providers.
Visit the OSAC Registry webpage to view these and the 225+ forensic science standards on the Registry.
Standards Open for Comment
Open for Comment at OSAC
The following standard is being considered for the OSAC Registry and is open for comment at OSAC until May 5, 2025:
Open for Comment at SDOs
The following SDOs are accepting public comments on documents:
- The Academy Standards Board (ASB) has three documents open for public comment in the areas of crime scene investigation & reconstruction (comment deadline April 17), forensic odontology (comment deadline April 21), and forensic toxicology (comment deadline April 28).
- ASTM has seven documents open for comment in the areas of fire debris, seized drugs, and terminology related to forensic science. The comment deadline is April 21.
- The Scientific Working Group on Digital Evidence (SWGDE) has 11 documents open for comment until May 6.
Visit OSAC's Standards Open for Comment webpage to access these OSAC Proposed and SDO documents, as well as the instructions and deadlines for comment submissions.
SDO Updates
New Published Standards
The following standards have recently been published by an SDO.
ASB:
- ASB Technical Report 151, Medical Death Investigation: Terms and Definitions, 2025, 1st Ed.
SWGDE:
- 2025-03-04 Best Practices for Handling Damaged Digital Storage Devices (14-F-002-2.0).
- 2025-03-04 Best Practices for Remote Collection of Digital Evidence from an Endpoint (22-F-003-2.0).
- 2025-03-03 Best Practices for Image Authentication (18-I-001-2.0).
- 2025-03-03 Best Practices for Maintaining the Integrity of Imagery (17-I-001-1.1).
- 2025-03-03 Core Competencies for Forensic Audio (10-A-001-3.3).
- 2025-03-03 Guidelines for Evidence Photography in a Controlled Setting (18-P-001-2.0).
- 2025-03-03 Guidelines for Forensic Image Analysis (16-I-002-1.1).
- 2025-03-03 Recommendations for Historical Cell Site Analysis (17-F-001-3.0).
- 2025-03-03 Technical Notes on FFmpeg for Forensic Audio Examination (23-A-001-1.1).
Work Proposals for New or Revised Standards
A Project Initiation Notification System (PINS) was published in the March 7, 2025 ANSI Standards Action. This will begin ASTM's work on the following:
- WK93971, Standard Test Method for the Analysis of Fentanyl and Related Substances Using Gas-Chromatography-Infrared Spectroscopy (GC-IR) (new standard). This standard specifies the requirements for the testing of fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances in seized drug evidence using Gas Chromatography-Infrared Spectroscopy.
- WK93983, Reinstatement of E2549-14 Standard Practice for Validation of Seized-Drug Analytical Methods (reinstatement with revision and title change). This document has been extensively revised by OSAC subcommittee members in Explosives, Fire Debris, and Seized Drugs, including a title change, to be an interdisciplinary document applicable to forensic science service providers (FSSPs) and forensic service providers (FSPs) performing forensic chemical analyses. Discipline-specific annexes/appendices will provide additional details on the specific testing that should be conducted for each performance characteristic. These annexes/appendices are in progress and will be submitted and balloted separately.
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