Submissions

INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS

Submission Restrictions

All forms of content will be considered for publication, including: presentations (power point, slide, poster, etc.), original research, technical notes, case studies, opinions or letters. No submission will be sent for external peer review upon receipt. The submitting author(s) is welcome to site and/or include any peer review with their submission. The peer review will be noted in the article following the title as follows "(P)". If a hard copy peer review is provided it will be added to the main submission and included in The Archive. There are no limit to the number of pages submitted for posting.

The Editor reserves the right to make necessary changes to all submissions as they pertain to spelling, grammar, syntax and content arrangement. The Editor will not address the scientific content or validity of the work submitted. This will be left to the audience.

The author is to assign their work to one of the following forensic disciplines or provide a sub-context that best categorizes the submitted content: Crime Scene Investigation; Criminalistics; Fingerprinting and Other Impression Evidence; Firearms and Tool Marks; Fires and Explosions; Forensic Engineering; Questioned Documents; Traffic Accidents; Computer Forensics; Behavioral Sciences and Forensic Profiling; Forensic Entomology; Forensic Anthropology, Forensic Chemistry; Forensic Toxicology; Blood Stains and Body Fluids, Forensic Education, Law and Ethics; Management and Quality Assurance; Clinical Forensic Medicine and Forensic Pathology; Forensic Serology; Evaluations and Statistics; Forensic Geology; Forensic DNA Typing; Forensic Odontology, and Paternity.

The following are suggested guidelines for the preparation and submission of work.

Categories of Papers Guidelines

• Pre-Prints: Poster, oral presentations, power point or slide.
  
  
• Original Research Papers: Original full-length research papers covering a topic in depth.
  
  
• Review Papers: Papers that organize and compare data from numerous sources, reviewing either the state of the art or the published literature of a particular area to provide new insights and unified concepts.
  
  
• Editorials: Philosophical comment.
  
  
• Letters to the Editor: Brief communications presenting new technical information, discussing a previously published paper, commenting on the Archive or requesting information. Letters will not be returned.
  
  
• Commentary: Personal perspective on some aspect of forensic science.
  
  
• Technical Report: Papers covering a specific technique.
  
  
• Case Study: Description or analysis of an unusual case no longer before the courts.
  
  
• Rules of Thumb: Brief technical applications.
  
  

Preparation of Manuscript Guidelines

Papers containing copyrighted figures, tables or graphs require permission for use from the copyright holders. Authors affiliated with organizations are expected to obtain clearance before submitting manuscripts. Papers previously presented at forensic meetings must name the organization and date of presentation. In instances where the organization holds first right of refusal for any presented work, the author(s) will be responsible for obtaining consent to publish their presentation elsewhere.

Authors are to submit hard copy and PC files (WordPerfect, Word, ASCII) on diskette or CD ROM. No Zip files. All graphics must be provided both in hard copy and on diskette. Non-electronic submissions will be accepted. Works will not be returned unless requested and at Author's expense. PDF Files are to be saved as version 1.5 or lower (Acrobat 6 or below).

The chosen language of The Archive is English. Manuscripts may be forwarded in any font and paper size.

Forward the original and one clear copy to:

The Editor,
The Forensic Archive,
P.O. Box 42057,
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada, K1K 4L8.

Please email your inquiries to contact@quincy.ca.

When preparing content use conventional scientific and technical terminology, avoiding technical jargon or slang. Abbreviations should be made in parentheses immediately following first mention of the phrase in the text, and then used alone whenever necessary.

• Title: The first page should contain the title, authors' names, complete address for each author, any necessary footnotes, and two to six key words. Designate one author to handle all correspondence.
  
  
• Abstract: Manuscripts must carry an abstract of 75 to 150 words that concisely states:
  
  
  1. The problem investigated, the purpose of the study and its theoretical basis.
  2. The methods, procedures, treatments involved, and experimental design.
  3. The results/data obtained.
  4. Additional applications (if applicable).
  5. The main findings and principal conclusions drawn.
  6. New and important aspects of the study.
  
  
• Text: Original research papers should be divided into the following sections based on the American Chemical Society Conventions (ACS): Introduction, Experimental Method, Results and Discussion, and Summary or Conclusions.
  
  
  • Introduction: State the purpose and briefly review the subject listing pertinent references.
  • Experimental/Method: Identify procedures and sources of equipment. Describe new techniques in detail. Established techniques may be given by reference only.
  • Results: Present in sequence using text, tables and illustrations, avoiding repetition.
  • Discussion: Results should not be repeated in detail but emphasis made on new and important findings, detailing implications and limitations relevant to study.
  • Summary/Conclusions: This should not refer to the main text in detail, but be more complete than the abstract, listing important conclusions drawn from the research.
  
  
• Tables, Graphs and Illustrations: Provide both electronically and in hard copy on separate sheets, with captions listed on a copy of the original. Captions or legends are to be typed on a separate sheet from the original, not on the illustration itself. Tables should be referenced in the text (e.g., "See Table 1"). Numbers less than one in the table should have a zero before the decimal point "0.1".
  
  
• Photographs: In addition to electronic storage, all photographs should be sharp, clear, black-and-white or color prints no larger than 13 x 18 inches in size. Photos should be clearly labeled on the reverse side, with the TOP indicated in pencil taking care not to mark the image. Slides are acceptable. Digital photos are accepted.
  
  
• Nomenclature: Use generic names in preference to trade names. When trade names must be used the registered trademark symbol ® should be given immediately following and the manufacturer listed as a footnote.
  
  
• Acknowledgment: To follow the summary (before references).
  
  
• References: Listed in the numerical order in which they are cited in the text. In the text the abbreviation 'et al' may be used only when referring to three or more authors. The reference list must include the authors' names and initials; titles of articles referenced, in full, in the language of publication; full journal titles; volume, number, date of publication for all periodicals; publisher, city, and year of publication for all books. The following are examples of acceptable reference citations:
  
  
  • Book: [1] Osborn, A. S., Questioned Documents, 2 ed., Boyd Printing Co., Albany, N.Y., 1929; reprinted ed., Patterson Smith, Montclair, New Jersey, 1978.
  • Article: [1] Hung, P.S. and S.C. Leung, "Some observations On The Morphology Of A Ball-Point Pen Stroke," International Journal of Of Forensic Document Examiners, Vol. 1, No. 1, Jan/March, 1995, pp.18-31.
  • Presentation: [1] Lyter, A. H., "Reflectance Spectrophotometric Analysis of Writing Inks: Batch Differentiation," presented at the American Society of Questioned Document Examiners Meeting, Orlando, Florida, August 3-8, 1991.
  • Footnotes: Footnotes include unpublished data, personal communications, comments, additional helpful, but non essential information, and similar items. Designate footnotes by superscript numbers in serial order, beginning with those on the title page, and placed at the bottom of the page where reference to it is made.
  
  
• Offprints: Submitting authors will not receive offprints
  
  
• Copyright Transfer: For copyright purposes manuscripts are accepted for publication on the understanding that exclusive copyright is assigned to the publisher and implies the exclusive authorization of the publisher to deal with all issues concerning the copyright therein. Transfer of copyright to The Archive ensures the widest possible dissemination of information under copyright laws. The author retains the right to publish in other journals without prior permission from Shunderson Communications Inc., provided The Archive is cited. For more information go to Copyright Transfer.