scope:

This is a compilation of terms and corresponding definitions used in the forensic sciences. Legal or scientific terms that are generally understood or defined adequately in other readily available sources may not be included.

A definition is a single sentence with additional information included in a Discussion. It is reviewed every five years, and the year of last review or revision is appended.

Definitions identical to those published by another standards organization or ASTM committee are identified with the abbreviation of the name of the organization or the identifying document and ASTM committee; for example, ASME is the American Society of Mechanical Engineering.²

Definitions of terms specific to a particular field are identified with an abbreviation.³

² Any definition that is unsourced has been developed by ASTM Subcommittee E30.92.

³ Abbreviations are as follows: CRIM = criminalistics, QD = questioned documents, ENGR = engineering, TOX = toxicology, PB = pathology/biology, ANTH = anthropology, and ODEN = odentology