Abstract
ISO 21,043 is a new international standard for forensic science. It provides requirements and recommendations designed to ensure the quality of the forensic process. It includes Parts on: 1 vocabulary; 2 recovery, transport, and storage of items; 3 analysis; 4 interpretation; and 5 reporting. We provide a guide to ISO 21043 from the perspective of the forensic-data-science paradigm, which involves the use of methods that are transparent and reproducible, are intrinsically resistant to cognitive bias, use the logically correct framework for interpretation of evidence (the likelihood-ratio framework), and are empirically calibrated and validated under casework conditions. The guide focuses primarily on vocabulary, interpretation, and reporting, and on providing guidance for forensic-service providers and examiners who want to implement methods that are both consistent with the forensic-data-science paradigm and conformant with ISO 21043.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 101304 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Science and Justice |
| Volume | 65 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| Early online date | 28 Jun 2025 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Sept 2025 |
Bibliographical note
Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of The Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences. This is an open access article under the CC BY license ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ).Keywords
- Forensic science
- ISO standard
- Interpretation
- Likelihood ratio
- Reporting
- Vocabulary