Published Standards
ANSI/ASB Standard 070: Standard for Examination of Handwritten Items
ANSI/ASB Standard 127: Standard for the Preservation and Examination of Charred Documents
ANSI/ASB Standard 128: Standard for the Preservation and Examination of Liquid Soaked Documents
ANSI/ASB Standard 011: Scope of Expertise in Forensic Document Examination
ANSI/ASB Standard 044: Standard for Examination of Documents for Indentations
ANSI/ASB Standard 117: Standard for Examination of Stamping Devices and Stamp Impressions
ANSI/ASB Standard 035: Standard for the Examination of Documents for Alterations
ANSI/ASB Standard 172: Standard for Examination of Mechanical Checkwriter Impressions and Machines
SWGDOC E01-13: SWGDOC Standard for Examination of Handwritten Items (superceded by ASB standard)
SWGDOC E02-13: SWGDOC Standard for Indentation Examinations (superceded by ASB standard)
SWGDOC E03-13: SWGDOC Standard for Examination of Altered Documents (superceded by ASB standard)
SWGDOC E04-13: SWGDOC Standard for Examination of Typewritten Items
SWGDOC E05-13: SWGDOC Standard for Examination of Documents Produced with Toner Technology
SWGDOC E06-13: SWGDOC Standard for Examination of Documents Produced with Liquid Ink Jet Technology
SWGDOC E08-13: SWGDOC Standard for Examination of Dry Seal Impressions
SWGDOC E10-13: SWGDOC Standard for Examination of Rubber Stamp Impressions (superceded by ASB standard)
SWGDOC G02-13: SWGDOC Standard for Minimum Training Requirements for Forensic Document Examiners
SWGDOC P01-13: SWGDOC Standard for Preservation of Charred Documents (superceded by ASB standard)
SWGDOC P02-13: SWGDOC Standard for Preservation of Liquid Soaked Documents (superceded by ASB standard)
SWGDOC M01-13: SWGDOC Standard for Test Methods for Forensic Writing Ink Comparison
SWGDOC M02-13: SWGDOC Standard for Writing Ink Identification
SWGDOC M03-13: SWGDOC Standard for Non-destructive Examination of Paper
SWGDOC T01-13: SWGDOC Terminology Relating to the Examination of Questioned Documents
SWGDOC Standard for Use of Image Capture and Storage Technology in Forensic Document Examination
SWGDOC Standard Terminology for Expressing Conclusions of Forensic Document Examiners
SWGDOC Standard for Scope of Work of Forensic Document Examiners (superceded by ASB standard)
Estándares Publicados en Español
SWGDOC E01-13: Estándar SWGDOC para el examen de documentos manuscritos
SWGDOC E02-13: Estándar SWGDOC para los exámenes de Indentación (superceded by ASB standard)
SWGDOC E03-13: Estándar SWGDOC para el Examen de Documentos Alterados (superceded by ASB standard)
SWGDOC E05-13: Estándar SWGDOC para el examen de documentos producidos con tecnología de tóner
SWGDOC E08-13: Estándar SWGDOC para el examen de impresiones de sello seco
SWGDOC M03-13: Estándar SWGDOC para el examen no destructivo del papel
Estándar SWGDOC para el Alcance de Trabajo de los Examinadores de Documentos Forenses
Terminología SWGDOC relativa al examen de los documentos cuestionados
Terminología Estándar de SWGDOC para Expresar Conclusiones de Examinadores de Documentos Forenses
What Forensic Document Examiner is not
Forensic document examination does not involve the employment or practice of the study of handwriting in an attempt to create a personality profile or otherwise analyze or judge a writer's personality or character. Furthermore, the practice of personality profiling or character assessment based on handwriting is not a foundation for the practice of forensic document examination in whole or in part.
Experience in the following does not constitute expertise or training in whole or part in forensic document examination: calligraphy, penmanship, fraud investigation, law enforcement, loss prevention, banking, general criminalistics or other forensic disciplines, legal training, or laboratory management.
About Us
For more than 20 years, several federal agencies have supported the efforts of various scientific working groups, often referred to as SWGs, for the advancement of forensic standards and techniques.
Today there are over 20 SWGs in existence representing forensic disciplines including DNA, Firearms, Latent Prints, et al.
The Scientific Working Group for Forensic Document Examination (SWGDOC) develops standards and guidelines for the field of forensic document examination. SWGDOC is composed of private examiners and government examiners from local, state, and federal laboratories throughout the United States. SWGDOC began in 1997 as TWGDOC (Technical Working Group for Questioned Documents), was renamed SWGDOC in 1999, and was reorganized in 2001. From 2000 to 2012 SWGDOC published their standards through American Society for Testing and Materials International (now simply ASTM International). In 2012 SWGDOC stopped publishing their standards through ASTM and began self-publishing their standards as is the practice for nearly every other SWG group.
What Does a Forensic Document Examiner Do?
The forensic document examiner conducts scientific examinations, comparisons, and analyses of documents in order to: (1) establish genuineness or nongenuineness, or to reveal alterations, additions, or deletions, (2) identify or eliminate persons as the source of handwriting, (3) identify or eliminate the source of machine produced documents, typewriting, or other impression marks, or relative evidence, and (4) preserve and/or restore legibility. They also write technical reports and give expert testimony.