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OSAC strengthens the nation’s use of forensic science by facilitating the development and promoting the use of high-quality, technically sound standards. These standards define minimum requirements, best practices, standard protocols and other guidance to help ensure that the results of forensic analysis are reliable and reproducible.
OSAC, administered by NIST and part of NIST's Forensic Science Program, was created in 2014 to address a lack of discipline-specific forensic science standards. OSAC fills this gap by drafting proposed standards and sending them to standards developing organizations (SDOs), which further develop and publish them.
OSAC also reviews standards and posts high quality ones to the OSAC Registry. Inclusion on this registry indicates that a standard is technically sound and that laboratories should consider adopting them. Recent additions to the registry cover DNA mixture interpretation, digital evidence examination and wildlife forensics. Hundreds more are in the pipeline.
OSAC’s 800+ volunteer members and affiliates work in forensic laboratories and other institutions around the country and have expertise in 22 forensic disciplines, as well as scientific research, measurement science, statistics, law and policy. OSAC drafts and evaluates forensic science standards via a transparent, consensus-based process that allows for participation by all stakeholders.
To stay informed about and get involved with OSAC:
- Join our email list to receive news and updates.
- Follow us on LinkedIn.
- If you have relevant expertise, consider applying to become an OSAC member.
OSAC members only: To access the internal Google dashboard, please click here.
