JFS Update and Call to AAFS 2025 Presenters

Thanks to the ongoing efforts of the Journal of Forensic Sciences (JFS) leadership team, we continue to grow our scientific recognition and improve our performance metrics. Included below are summaries of the key achievements during 2024. Thank you to all who have contributed, especially the JFS  Associate Editors and the JFS Managing Editor, to the continued success of JFS.        

JFS leadership realizes the importance of turnaround time (TAT). Great strides have been made over the past few years to improve TAT, and efforts to improve the process are ongoing. A few JFS performance metrics for 2024 are bulleted below. Additional JFS metrics are available here. Note: Weekends are included in TAT stats.

•    Average days from submission to first decision:  36 days 
•    Average days from original submission to final decision:  51 days
•    Average days from final decision to Early View online publication:  14 days

If you presented at AAFS 2025, please consider submitting your research to JFS. The electronic platform for JFS manuscript submissions can be accessed via the JFS Research Exchange submission site,  wiley.atyponrex.com/journal/JFO. The JFS author guidelines are available at: JFS Information for Authors. Increase the visibility of your research and submit your manuscript to JFS – the official journal of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS).  

The current JFS Associate Editors, together with respective specialty areas:  
•    Anthropology – Ann H. Ross, Ph.D.
•    Digital & Multimedia Sciences – Douglas Lacey, M.S.   
•    Forensic Biology – Mechthild K. Prinz, Ph.D.  
•    Forensic Chemistry – Ruth Waddell Smith, Ph.D. 
•    Material Traces – Brooke Kammrath, Ph.D. 
•    Odontology – Jayakumar Jayaraman, B.D.S., M.D.S., M.S., Ph.D.
•    Pathology/Biology – Nicholas Batalis, M.D. 
•    Pattern Traces – Anna S. Duggar, Ph.D.
•    Psychiatry & Behavioral Science – Daniel A. Martell, Ph.D.
•    Toxicology – Marta Concheiro-Guisan, Pharm.D., Ph.D.
 

We would also like to recognize Dr. Corinne L. Fligner who stepped down from her JFS AE role for Pathology/Biology, and Dr. Iain Pretty who stepped down from his JFS AE role for Odontology. Dr. Pretty and Dr. Fligner have been dedicated and enthusiastic members of the JFS leadership team in their JFS AE roles and were a tremendous help in making the new JFS structure the successful model it is today. Both performed the JFS AE duties for their respective area's manuscript submissions with professionalism and integrity. They will continue to serve as JFS Editorial Board Members. Our thanks and gratitude are extended to Dr. Fligner and Dr. Pretty.  

Due to the substantial increase JFS has experienced over the past few years in Trace Evidence submissions, the JFS AE role has now been split into two areas: Material Traces and Pattern Traces. Dr. Brooke Kammrath's AE role will focus on Material Traces and Dr. Anna Duggar's AE role will focus on Pattern Traces.

We are pleased to announce the new appointments to the JFS Editorial Board, which occurred at the AAFS 2025 Board of Directors Meeting. The full JFS Editorial Board is available at: 2025-26 JFS Editorial Board.

We would also like to recognize the following JFS Editorial Board Members for their service, as their terms ended in February 2025.   

JFS continues to see an increase in content usage and engagement, with the annual trend of JFS  full text downloads reflecting a 41.5% growth in readership since 2019. Continuing to grow the readership, visibility, and utilization of JFS content is a key objective of the JFS Strategic Plan.    

JFS continued its Noteworthy Articles initiative in 2024. The JFS 2024 Noteworthy Articles  collection was available via free access through March 2025 and the Virtual Issue is accessible at: 2024 JFS Noteworthy Articles. Additional information on the JFS Noteworthy Articles initiative is available here.

JFS undertook a Special Issue initiative in 2024, titled JFS  Special Section on Disaster Victim Identification, which was published in the JFS September 2024 issue. The articles solicited were multidisciplinary and contained a broad international perspective and included not just disaster victim identification (DVI) in the strictest sense of the phrase. The Special Section also included mass grave investigation/genocide and other humanitarian aspects and conversations with DPAA and ICMP on identification efforts for large scale mass fatality events. Special Issues are an effective tool for increasing output of high-quality content, promoting a journal to a wider audience, and increasing a journal's Impact Factor. Our thanks and gratitude are extended to Drs. Suni Edson and Mechthild Prinz who served as Special Guest Editors for the DVI Special Section. JFS is considering Special Issues for 2025. Please watch for further information in the upcoming months.  

The JFS Editorial Office continued its Forensic Lab Talks (FLT) Seminar Series in 2024, in partnership with Wiley. The JFS FLT Seminar Series has been extremely successful, averaging approximately 1,300 registrants per seminar to-date. The global reach has been wide, increasing the visibility of both JFS and AAFS. Certificates of Attendance, seen as a value add to potential registrants as well as an incentive for individuals to participate live, will continue to be an enhanced element for JFS FLT seminars going forward.  

JFS compiled a special Virtual Issue in September 2024, to celebrate National Forensic Science Week: Artifacts in Digital & Multimedia Forensics.

JFS continued its social media (SM) initiative in 2024, utilizing the AAFS SM accounts to promote selected articles deemed to be high impact. In addition, JFS continued its "Featured Article of the Week" initiative, highlighting an article in each AAFS Newsletter.  

The new production workflow implemented for JFS has resulted in improved export to online publication (Early View) TAT metrics for the production side of JFS. Recent JFS articles have been published as early as seven days after acceptance. This process modification supports the JFS Strategic Plan objective to leverage modern digital platforms to improve author experience.  

The JFS leadership is excited about further improvements and enhancements scheduled for launch in 2025-26, and we look forward to announcing these developments over the next several weeks.  

Thank you for your continued support of JFS and its initiatives. For questions, please contact JFS  Managing Editor Brenda Peat at bpeat@aafs.org.