BEST PAPER AWARDS

The NIFS Best Paper Awards were created to recognise the contribution of members of the Australian and New Zealand forensic science community in sharing their work and experiences with other members of the forensic and wider communities and to encourage all members of the forensic science community to so contribute.

Applications

AWARD CATEGORIES

• Best Paper in a Refereed Journal;

• Best Technical Article or Note;

• Best Chapter in a Book;

• Best Literature Review;

• Best Case Study; and

• The Henry Delaforce Award. 
  

SUBMISSION OF PAPERS/ARTICLES

Ten copies of the paper/article/chapter should be forwarded together with the completed application form to NIFS by the specified date, normally the last Friday in September. Late applications will not be accepted.

Papers/articles submitted must have been published in hard copy in the previous financial year to be considered. For examples papers submitted in September 2007 must have been published in the 2006/2007 financial year.

In cases where there are multiple authors, the submitted author must attest that the other authors are aware of the submission. The lead author must also be from Australia or New Zealand . At least one of the authors must be a current forensic practitioner working in a Government laboratory in Australia or New Zealand .

NIFS will allocate papers/articles to the appropriate category/categories.

Applications for these awards are submitted to the annual meeting of the Panel of Advisers for judging.

The Panel of Advisers, in considering applications, will take into account any correspondence that may be generated by the submitted article. Such correspondence may be within subsequent journals or publications or that which is sent directly to the author(s).

The recommendations of the Panel of Advisers are forwarded to the Board of Control for endorsement.

Award winners receive a framed certificate and a $250 voucher for their institution’s library.

In cases where there are multiple authors, each author will receive a framed certificate and the $250 voucher will be forwarded to the relevant Forensic Science library.

BEST PAPER IN A REFEREED JOURNAL

The purpose of this award is to recognise those who have published original work.

The papers are judged on: 

•  novel concept vs extension of existing work;

•  originality of the methodology;

•  contribution to forensic science globally;

•  clarity and understandibility of the presentation;   and

•  international standing of the journal.

 BEST TECHNICAL ARTICLE OR NOTE

The purpose of this award is to encourage practitioners to circulate technical information throughout their discipline groups and other groups who may have an interest. This could be through police journals, The NIFS Newsletter, SAG newsletters and the like. Papers should include the issue or problem to be addressed, methodology discussion and/or consideration of solutions, conclusions or benefits of the solution.

The papers are judged on: 

•  methodological rigour;

• its contribution to forensic science globally;   and

•  clarity and understandibility of the presentation.

BEST LITERATURE REVIEW

The purpose of this award is to recognise those who have collated information regarding a topic or discipline. The review should be published in a relevant journal, newsletter, as part of a thesis or equivalent.

The papers are judged on:

• the breadth of the collation;

• its contribution to forensic science globally;   and

• the clarity and understandibility of the presentation.

 BEST CHAPTER IN A BOOK

The purpose of this award is to recognise those who have contributed to the production of a collected work or book.

Where multiple chapters have been written, the author(s) should only submit one chapter of the work.

Chapters are judged on: 

• the contribution to forensic science globally;   and

• the clarity and the understandibility.

BEST CASE STUDY

The purpose of this award is to encourage members of the forensic science community to share interesting case studies with the wider forensic community. Case studies should be published in police journals, the NIFS Newsletter, SAG newsletters or the like.

Case studies are judged on: 

•  readability, clarity;

• logical development of the study;

• use of diagrams/pictures;

• conclusion and lessons learnt;  and

• contribution of the study to the general knowledge in the field.

THE HENRY DELAFORCE AWARD

Detective Chief Superintendent Henry Delaforce retired from the New South Wales Police Service at the end of 1996. Henry had given excellent service to the Australian forensic community over a long period of time. NIFS has established in his honour, an award for the best paper by a police officer.

The papers in this category should focus on the situation where a novel approach to a problem or the use of a new scientific technique assisted in the resolution of a case or series of cases. Although the paper must have some scientific rigour, the style and content should be such that it informs and is easily intelligible to the broader justice system reader. Papers from other categories may also fall into this category.

The lead author must be a serving Australian or New Zealand police officer.

 You can request an application from NIFS 
or 
download one here as a Acrobat PDF document

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