Articles Published by NIJ

NIJ-funded researchers adapted a method used to detect human exposure to environmental and occupational chemicals to significantly extend the limited time period when tests can identify evidence of certain illicit drugs in the body.

Forensic scientists have explored whether lifted and archived fingerprints retain forensically useful amounts of DNA.

Investigators in two NIJ-supported studies have demonstrated that people carry unique microbial communities on their skin, and traces of those communities, left on touched objects, can be linked to the individual.

Scientific inquiry into the process of decomposition has studied a wide range of mammals and developed a fundamental understanding of the stages of decomposition, but forensic scientists should use caution in applying nonhuman data to human bodies.

After analyzing individual blood droplets on inclined surfaces, researchers in this NIJ-funded project said measurements show the current standard method is accurate for drops that hit at right angles but has significant errors at shallow impact angles.

A new test for detecting and identifying illegal drugs in oral fluids may be superior to the current test widely used in the field by law enforcement, according to researchers in this study.

Researchers investigate the potential of using isotopes in specific amino acids in human hair as a forensic tool to provide information about an individual's age, sex, race, body mass, genetic disorders, health, and region of origin.