Science for Judges - Development of the Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence, 4th Edition

The Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence is a primary reference source for federal judges on questions of science in litigation. It is used not only by federal judges, but by state judges, attorneys, legal scholars, and law students. Its utility and widespread use is the result of the fair and balanced presentation it provides of

fundamental principles of scientific methodology in areas likely to arise in expert testimony. Ten years have passed since the publication of the last (third) edition of the Reference Manual, and many of the chapters need updating to account for recent developments in science and law. For example, the chapter on DNA

identification needs updating to take into account new genetic testing techniques and methodologies, andthe chapter on neuroscience must take account of new approaches for detecting neural activity. A new edition will also need to address emerging areas of science that have become important in litigation in recent years. The

Committee on Science, Technology, and Law of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, in collaboration with the Federal Judicial Center (FJC) – the research and education agency of the judicial branch of the U.S. government – have agreed to pursue the development of a fourth edition of the

Reference Manual. The manual ultimately benefits society by increasing the rigor with which the judiciary evaluates scientific evidence. A committee of 10-12 members representing both the legal and scientific/ engineering/ medical communities will be convened to develop new edition of the manual with input from the FJC. The new edition will include

updates of chapters from the previous edition of the Reference Manual as well as new chapters that reflect emerging areas of science, technology, and medicine relevant to the courts. The committee will select the topics to be included in the manual, commission expert authors to revise the current chapters or draft new

ones, review all draft chapters, approve the chapters for external review, submit the manual for external review, and oversee chapter revisions as necessitated by external review comments.

This project was co-funded by the following NSF Divisions: Social and Economic Sciences; Chemistry; Information and Intelligent Systems; Computer and Network Systems; ITR/CISE Information Technology Research; Engineering Education and Centers; Molecular and Cellular Biology; Research in Learning.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.