Forensic Science
Documentation Style by Discipline
Many forensic science courses refer to the Journal of Forensic Sciences' Instructions to Authors for guidelines on referencing.
- In-Text Citations Using JFS Style
- References Page Using JFS Style
- Reference Examples by Type of Source
In-Text Citations Using JFS Style
JFS style uses a citation-sequence system for in-text references.
- Place a number in square brackets at the end of the sentence that contains the information that you are citing [1].
- This number corresponds to the order in which the source first appears in your paper. As you write your paper, number your sources consecutively.
- E.g., if you have already cited four sources, and you now wish to refer to information from a new source, then you would place a [5] at the end of the sentence.
- Each source corresponds with only one number.
- E.g., Later, if you refer to information from the fourth source cited, you would place a [4] at the end of the sentence. OR If you use the same source more than once, always refer to it by the original number.
- Here are some examples of how you might cite sources in the text of your paper,
- [1] = this indicates information is cited from source number 1
- [1-3] = this indicates information is cited from sources 1, 2 and 3
- [4,6] = this indicates information is cited from sources 4 & 6
References Page Using JFS Style
General Guidelines
- Put the heading "References" in boldface at the top of the page.
- List all published, in-press, or world wide web sources that are cited by number in your paper. Personal communications are not listed as references, rather they should be cited in the text (name of the person, date of communication), in parentheses, at the appropriate location.
- Number each source sequentially by the order it is first cited in your paper, e.g., 1, 2, 3
- Only list each reference once since the same number is used throughout your text.
- Journal titles are abbreviated according to the Index Medicus.
- Below you will find examples of how to cite common sources. For information about how to cite other types of sources see the Journal of Forensic Sciences' Instructions to Authors.
Formatting Guidelines
- No boldface or italics used.
Titles of articles, chapters, books, etc.
- Capitalize the first word in a title and the first word following a colon
- Capitalize proper nouns that appear in the title; for example, Alzheimer’s disease
Author names
- Last name followed by initials; do not use a period or space between or after initials. For example, Smith JN, Chaudry AJ, Liu FM.
- Do not use a comma after the last name to separate from initials
- Separate each author by a comma
- List all author names up to and including the first six authors; when there are more than six authors, follow the sixth author’s name with et al.
Page numbers
- Shorten second number in page range when possible.
- E.g., 226-229 should be written as 226-9 and 1245-1464 should be written as 1245-464.
Reference Examples by Type of Source
Standard Journal Article without DOI number
1. Swanson BJ, Kyle CJ. Relative influence of temporal and geographic seperation of source populations in a successful marten reintroduction. J Mammal. 2007;88(5):1346-8.
Journal Article with DOI number
2. Orr A, Illes M, Stotesbury T. Characterizing drip patterns in bloodstain pattern analysis: An investigation of the influence of droplet impact velocity and number of droplets on static pattern features. Forensic Sci Int. 2019;301:55-66. doi: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2019.05.002.
Book
Include relevant page numbers for your citation.
3. Illes M, Wilson P. The scientific method in forensic science: A Canadian handbook. Toronto, Canada: Canadian Scholars; 2020. p. 45-6.
Chapter/Article in an Edited Book
Include page numbers for your citation.
4. Conrad KF, Fox R, Woiwod IP. Monitoring biodiversity: Measuring long-term changes in insect abundance. In: Stewart AJA, New TR, Lewis OT, editors. Insect conservation biology. Oxford: The Royal Entomological Society; 2007. p. 203-25.
Internet
For an internet document include the title and url as well as the date accessed.
5. Canadian Cancer Society. What is cancer? https://cancer.ca/en/cancer-information/what-is-cancer. Accessed 17 Jan 2022.
Other Source Types
For any reference type not listed above (e.g. newspaper article, scientific or technical report, audiovisual recordings, articles containing comment, articles not written in English, etc.) please refer to the examples in the Journal of Forensic Sciences' Instructions to Authors.
Updated January 2022