This workshop will provide an introduction to research, sources, citations, references, making sense of online searches, and resources available to forensic scientists (for free!) that can help with research, case studies, trial preparation, accreditation, and more.

“Successful, active laboratories publish results of research regularly. Apathetic, routine laboratories do not. When the research output of any laboratory is zero, it is a definite indication that changes are needed, for the laboratory is not functioning as a modern and effective crime laboratory, regardless of the case load it handles, or the statistics it may produce to provide the contrary” (Kirk and Bradford 1965, page 56).

Any time sources are used to investigate claims or reach new conclusions, research is being performed. It is vitally important in science to know how to conduct research and assess and handle source material for both academics and professionals. Different types of research require different types of sources. Most sources can be divided into two categories: scholarly and popular. Scholarly sources are written by qualified researchers and have gone through a thorough peer-review process and have an extensive list of references supporting the claims in the work. Searching online for sources can be good, bad, and ugly. Vast amounts of information are available with a few computer clicks, but the kinds of information needed may not be found or, if it is found, may not be of the highest quality (to say the least). Citation and reference formats can be confusing. And where to publish? Articles published in subscription journals leave articles behind paywalls (at an average of $45 per article), and journal subscriptions can be prohibitively expensive. But what are open access journals all about? How does “free” work? And what are predatory journals?