Collaborative practise in forensic science and academia: The development of a documentation strategy for fingerprint examinations in an English fingerprint bureau in the ISO 17025 era.

The mandatory introduction of ISO 17,025 accreditation to fingerprint comparisons forced changes to the documentation procedures. Academic and grey literature consistently suggest that the documentation should provide a sufficient auditable trail, yet there is some dissimilarity in the guidance relating to documentation content, and subjectivity with its interpretation. The accreditation body, UK Accreditation Service (UKAS), was not prescriptive in the methods required to produce working notes and were open to different practises, which has provided a useful opportunity to compare approaches to casework and to work with practitioners to inform effective practise.