National Academy of Sciences (NAS)

This article describes the Unites States' most prestigious scientific honorific society, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), and the role that it has played in assessing, evaluating, and seeking to improve forensic science. The principal focus of the article is on eight ‘consensus studies’ or ‘reports’ produced by the National Research Council (NRC), the operating arm of the NAS, that focused on forensic issues. The article describes the process by which such reports are produced and the measures taken to ensure that they are balanced, well informed, and responsive to the needs of their sponsors, the public, and science in general. The article briefly summarizes the impetus for, production of, and reception of the eight ‘forensic reports.’