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Author Guidelines

The key objectives of the journal “Theory and Practice of Forensic Science” are:

• to produce content that sums up the latest scientific advancements and best practices in the forensic sciences;
• to analyze current issues in the theory and practice of forensic science and research;
• to provide methodological and informational support for employees of forensic science organizations, courts, investigators, prosecutors and other stakeholders;
• to facilitate continuing education of forensic scientists employed by public and non-governmental forensic science organizations.

The underlying rationale of the journal is to publish the results of cutting-edge research in the forensic sciences, as well as practice-led scientific findings and methodological resources. The journal provides a space for authors to exchange their perspectives on the organization of forensic operations and discipline-specific issues in forensic practice.

The journal explores the issues of improving and transforming the regulatory framework of forensic practice, its legal and organizational aspects. Particular emphasis is placed on the training of forensic scientists. The bulk of the journal's output is dedicated to the sharing of practical insights, including summaries of best practices in various fields of forensic science and case study reports on specific types of investigations conducted by forensic practitioners.

In order to be accepted for publication, each submission has to meet the formal requirements of the journal, pass the double-blind peer review process, and be recommended for publication by the editorial board of the journal. Once rejected by the editorial board, a manuscript will not be accepted for consideration a second time.

Please note that all submissions must meet the following requirements set forth by the journal's editorial board.

• The article has never been published before, neither submitted for review and publication in another journal. 
• Original content constitutes more than 75% of the text.
• The manuscript file is submitted in the Microsoft Word document format.
• The text meets all of the style requirements listed below.

If a manuscript fails to meet the stated requirements, it may be returned to the author(s).

Submission checklist

Each submission must include the following items, all in electronic form:

• a scanned copy of a cover letter from the author's place of work (study);
• a single manuscript file;
• a scanned copy of the printed manuscript signed by all authors;
• illustration files (if applicable).

Manuscripts may be submitted through the journal website www.tipse.ru or by email: tipse@sudexpert.ru.

Manuscript structure and format style

All submission materials are combined into a single Microsoft Word file in the following order (pages are numbered continuously, with numbers center aligned in the footer).

1. Title of the paper.

2. Initials and surname(s) of the author(s).

3. The author's institutional affiliation, including the official name of the organization and its location (city, postal code and country); for multiple authors, each surname and corresponding institution are linked by a superscript number.

4. Abstract of the paper.

5. Keywords.

6. Main body of the text.

7. Sources of funding and acknowledgments (if applicable).

8. References (in the original language of publication).

9. References (in English only, to be uploaded to international databases).

10. Information about the author(s).

Manuscript materials must be presented in a clear and consistent manner, avoiding lengthy introductions, repetitions and reiteration of table and figure data in the text. The text is structurally organized to include the following sections: introduction (brief literature review), aim of the paper, materials and methods, results and discussion, and conclusions. Free format is acceptable for theoretical essays and overview papers, however, they also have to be structured. Section titles in such papers are determined by the author.

For text formatting please use the 14-point Times New Roman font, with 1.5 line spacing and 1.25 cm first line indent, and justified alignment without hyphenation. The standard page format is A4, with 2 cm top and bottom margins, 2.5 left margin and 1.5 right margin. Italics should be used for emphasis; all figures, charts and tables are inserted where appropriate throughout the text, and not at the end of the document. Total manuscript length should not exceed 25 pages. A longer text with more illustrations may be accepted for publication upon the decision of the editorial board.

In-text citations are marked in square brackets with the ordinal number of the corresponding source in the reference list (where sources are arranged in the order of citation). Several citations in a row are listed in ascending order and separated by commas, e.g. [3, 5, 8], or by an en dash between the first and last number in a continuous sequence [3–7]. For direct quotations page numbers should be separated from the reference number by a comma, e.g. [1, p. 5], [5, p. 10–12]. If a source is cited more than once, the already assigned number is used. All of the sources included in the reference list should have corresponding citations in the text.

When legal acts are cited in the text using their long titles (i.e. the full title of the law/code, date passed, and number – e.g. The Federal Law No. 114-FZ of July 25, 2002 “On Countering Extremist Activity”), they are not included in the list of references.

Footnotes may be added if necessary, with continuous numbering throughout the text using Arabic numerals.

Title of the paper

The title of the paper should be as concrete and informative as possible.

Abstract

The abstract is the main source of information about the article in domestic and international information systems and databases that the journal is indexed by. The abstract (along with the title of the paper, the authors' surnames, keywords, and two lists of references) is published on the journal website and indexed by web search engines. Its content should be clear without having to consult the text of the article itself.

A good abstract is a) informative (overly broad terms should be avoided); b) substantive and coherent; c) captures the main contents of the paper: goals and objectives, research methods, key findings and their significance; d) falls between 150 and 250 words in length.

The abstract should neither repeat the wording of the title of the paper, nor contain references to other works or abbreviations. The abstract should aim to describe the findings of the research, not the conducted work itself. Authors are warned against overstating the significance of their findings or including any material that is missing from the main text of the article. The abstract should make it clear which questions were investigated and which answers were obtained as a result.

Keywords

Choose approximately 10 words and/or short phrases that reflect the key points of the article, without repeating the terms of the title but using terms from the main body of the text in a way that will make it easier to locate the article with a search engine.

Equations, tables, figures

Equations are numbered continuously throughout the text, with numbers marked in parentheses to the right from each equation (1, 2, etc.). Numbers are used only for equations referenced in the text.

The overall number of tables, graphics and photos should be minimal (no more than five in total, each no larger than half an A4 page). Please avoid presenting the same material in both table and graphic form. Image captions that include the image key or legend should be informative and easy to understand without reading the article. Figures and tables are numbered continuously in the order of reference throughout the text (for example: Fig. 1, Table 2). If the manuscript contains only one figure (or one table), the mention of the word “figure” (“table”) in the text is neither abbreviated nor numbered.

Graphic illustrations and photos (preferably black-and-white) are submitted as JPEG or TIFF files with 300–600 dpi resolution. Grayscale and hatched fill patterns are preferred for chart patches. Drawings, schematics, charts and maps have to be legible to the finest detail. Full-word annotations within an image should be replaced with numerical or alphabetical labels explained in the main text of the article or in the figure legend.

Copyrighted third-party images will not be published without a written permission from copyright holders for their reproduction in the submitted article; these images have to be appropriately credited (referenced) in the text of the article.

Information about funding sources

Sources of funding are listed before References using the following wording: “This work was conducted with financial support from [name of institution] (project No. 00-00-00000)”.

References (in the original language of publication)

Entries in the reference list are arranged in the order of their in-text citation. The scope of cited sources should reflect the current state of scientific knowledge in the given field. The list of references should contain a minimum of 15 sources, mainly scientific articles published over the past decade. Other types of sources should be kept to a minimum.

The reference list includes published works that have authors, i.e. authored papers (presentations, abstracts) and books. Legislative acts, public records, “unauthored” online resources, statistical publications, etc. are cited in footnotes throughout the text and not mentioned in the actual list of references.

References to journal publications must include their DOI (Digital Object Identifier — a unique alphanumeric code assigned to each paper in the Crossref system) or URL. Please consult  http://search.crossref.org/ or https://www.citethisforme.com to verify the DOI of any particular source. To obtain the paper's DOI, simply enter its English title in the search bar. The overwhelming majority of recent scientific articles are registered by Crossref and have a unique DOI. Please make sure to use the only correct format of a DOI link (e.g. https://doi.org/10.30764/1819-2785-2018-13-4-6-15). Versions that include “doi:”, “dx.doi.org” etc. are unacceptable. Never add a period after the DOI or URL!

Unpublished and forthcoming works are not allowed for citation.

Dissertations are not considered to be published works, and therefore should not be included in the list of references. Whenever possible, replace a dissertation or its extended abstract in the list with a research paper by the same author, or reference the dissertation/abstract in the footnotes.

Self-citation should not exceed 20% of the total number of entries in the reference list.

References (in English only)

Every paper in the journal is supplemented with a list of references in English, for the purposes of citation tracking via international databases.

The formatting style of entries in this reference list is the same as in the main list that cites sources in their original language (see below).

A work originally published in a language other than English should be cited using the correct translation (the version used by the cited author), both of the title of the paper and of the journal title. It is best to avoid references to journal articles that offer no English translation of their title.

If the original translation is not available, you can propose your own English version of the title. In this case a special note should be added to the reference: “Translated by the author of the article”. For non-English paper titles indicate the original language of the publication in parentheses, e.g. (In Russ.). Make sure to add the DOI of the paper at the end of the bibliographic reference whenever possible.

For non-Latin script references, the author's (reviewer's) surname and initials and the name of the publisher should be latinized with the help of an automatic transliterator (for works originally published in Russian please use https://antropophob.ru/translit-bs). To avoid mistakes, authors are advised against relying on manual transliteration.

References in both lists are formatted using the following style:

1) Journal paper. Author(s) (surname(s), initials). Title of the paper // Title of the Journal. Year published. Volume number (Vol.). Issue number (No.). Page number(s) from–to. https://doi.org/...

2) Book. Author(s) (surname(s), initials). Title. City: Publisher, year published. Total number of pages.

3) Chapter in an edited book. Author(s) (surname(s), initials). Title of the chapter // Title of the volume / (Eds.) Editor(s) (initials and surname(s)). City: Publisher (without inverted commas), year published. Page number(s) from–to. https://doi.org/...

4) Conference abstracts (materials). Author(s) (surname(s), initials). Title of the abstract // Title of the conference abstracts or proceedings (as it appears on the cover or title page of the publication). City: Publisher, year published. Page number(s) from–to. https://doi.org/...

6) Electronic resource. Author(s) (surname(s), initials). Title of the publication // Name of the online source. Year. http://www…

With more than 10 authors, only the first three are listed by their surname and initials (Smith A.B., Jones J.J., Brown R.S. et al.). Titles of journals should appear in their accepted abbreviated form (Journal of Biochemistry – J. Biochem., etc.), and the same applies to cities (Moscow – M., New York – N.Y., etc.).

Examples of references as they should appear in the list (in this case English only):

Journal paper:

• Usov A.I., Gradusova O.B., Kuz’min S.A. The Use of Probabilistic and Statistical Methods to Test the Significance of Scientific Evidence: Comparative Analysis of Current Forensic Practices in Russia and Abroad // Theory and Practice of Forensic Science. 2018. Vol. 13. No. 4. P. 6–15. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.30764/1819-2785-2018-13-4-6-15
• Omelyanyuk G.G., Gulevskaya V.V., Khaziev Sh.N. Wildlife forensic examination in Russia: the practice and perspectives // Forensic Sciences Research. 2016. Vol. 1. No. 1. P. 38–41. https://doi.org/10.1080/20961790.2016.1243082

Book:

• Belkin R.S. Criminalistics course. M.: Yuniti, 2001. 837 p. (In Russ.).
• Forensic science: typical mistakes / Ed. E.R. Rossinskaya. M.: Prospekt, 2012. 544 p. (In Russ.).
• Holliday R. Aging: The Paradox of Life. Why we age. Dordrecht: Springer, 2007. 134 p.

Chapter in an edited book:

• Vlasyuk I.V., Leonov S.V. Characteristics of tiger bite marks // Current issues in forensic medicine and law / Eds. V.A. Spiridonova and N.Sh. Nigmatullin. Kazan: Meditsina, 2011. P. 54–59. (In Russ.).
• Kendeigh S.C., Dol'nik V.R., Gavrilov V.M. Avian energetics // Granivorous birds in ecosystems / Eds. J. Pinowski and S.C. Kendeigh. N.Y.: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1977. P. 127–204.

Conference abstract (materials):

• Vaske E.V., Kurakina O.I. Psychological factors affecting an extremist’s personality formation // Proceedings of the 4th International Science and Practice Conference “Russian science in times of change: tenets of the past and theories of the here and now”. Part 2. (Ekaterinburg, November 7–8, 2014). Ekaterinburg: Natsional’naya Assotsiatsiya Uchenykh (NAU), 2014. P. 141–143. (In Russ.)
• Carroll M.E., Mohammed L.A., Domitrovich S.A. et al. The Evolution of Daubert and Its Effects on the Forensic Sciences // Proceedings of the American Academy of Forensic Science. 69^th Annual Scientific Meeting (New Orleans, LA. February 13–18, 2017). 2017. Vol. 23. P. 4–6.

Electronic resource:

• Grinkevich V. 3D rifle for the world revolution: can printed firearms conquer the world? // Lenta.ru. 24.09.2016. (In Russ.) http://www.lenta.ru/articles/2016/09/24/3drifle 
• Lilien R. Applied Research and Development of a Three-dimensional Topography System for Firearm Identification Using GelSight, NIJ Report 248639 // National Institute of Justice, Washington, DC. 2016. https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/248639.pdf
• Smirnova S.A., Omel'yanyuk G.G., Khaziev Sh.N., Gulevskaya V.V. The foundations of wildlife forensics: an issues note // Eurasian Wildlife Forensics Network. 2015. (In Russ.) http://sudexpert.ru/enfsi/ff.php

Information about the authors

Copyright Notice

Authors who publish with the journal “Theory and Practice of Forensic Science” agree to the following terms:

1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with proper acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).

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