ABFA Diplomate
Definition
The American Board of Forensic Anthropology's practitioner certification, requiring a doctoral degree, three or more years of forensic casework, a reviewed case portfolio, and written plus oral examination by sitting Diplomates. Approximately 120 to 130 active Diplomates worldwide as of 2024.
- Requirement
- Doctoral degree plus 3+ years casework
- Process
- Case portfolio, written and oral exam
- Active Diplomates
- Roughly 120-130 worldwide (as of 2024)
- Issuing body
- American Board of Forensic Anthropology
Common questions
What is the practical difference between being an ABFA member and being a Diplomate?+
Diplomate is the board's individual certification level, earned through a case portfolio plus written and oral examination by sitting Diplomates, distinct from simply belonging to the wider professional organisation.
Why are there so few active Diplomates worldwide?+
Forensic anthropology is a small specialised field, and the certification path itself, requiring years of documented casework and a peer-examined portfolio before an oral exam, is deliberately demanding, which keeps the certified pool small.
Related terms
- BSA 2023 Section 79
- The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023, which replaced the Indian Evidence Act 1872, governing expert testimony admissibility in India. Section 79 (formerly §...
- Daubert Standard
- The US federal evidentiary standard (Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 1993) requiring that expert testimony be based on scientifically valid methods with...
- ENFSI FAWG
- The ENFSI Forensic Anthropology Working Group, which produces the ENFSI Best Practice Manual for Forensic Anthropology and operates an annual External Quality...
- ISO 17020:2012
- The international standard for inspection bodies. Applies to forensic anthropology teams conducting scene recovery and exhumation, requiring documented procedures, personnel qualification evidence,...
- ISO/IEC 17025:2017
- The international standard specifying general requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories. Covers management (document control, non-conforming work, audits) and...
- OSAC Anthropology Subcommittee
- The Organisation of Scientific Area Committees' Anthropology Subcommittee, operating under NIST since 2014. Develops and publishes formal standards for forensic anthropology methods...
- Peer Review of Casework
- The ABFA 2017 position: every forensic anthropology report submitted to a court should be independently reviewed by a second qualified analyst before...
- Qualified-Opinion Framework
- The four-tier opinion scale used by forensic anthropologists for identification opinions: identification confirmed / consistent with / cannot exclude / excludes. Formalised...
- SWGANTH
- Scientific Working Group for Forensic Anthropology. A US expert panel that produced guidance documents (2008-2013) on standards for forensic anthropological practice, now...