ABSTRACT
Within medicine and dentistry there is a movement toward an evidence-based approach to treatment, diagnosis, and management [1]. While some authors have argued that the evidence-based approach is fundamentally flawed (mainly citing the nature of the studies published within the literature and the reluctance to publish negative results), many have agreed that an evidence-informed or research-based philosophy is a sound premise [1]. Forensic science should aspire to no lesser a goal; the decisions that are made by the judicial system, informed partly by evidence resulting from scientific tests, have implications that can be at least as serious as those facing the medical profession.
