Behavioral Sciences & the Law is seeking statisticians interested in collaborating with legal scholars and social scientists in a forthcoming special issue on The Use of Statistics in Criminal Cases, to be edited by Christopher Slobogin, J.D., LL.M., a senior editor for the journal. James R. Andretta, Ph.D. will assist in coordinating and editing the special issue.

Very little attention has been given to statistics in the field of behavioral sciences and the law. For one, there no statistical guidelines for determining the admissibility of empirical research in expert witness testimony. The field is also without guidelines for the reporting of statistics in legal proceedings more broadly. For these reasons, and many more, we are hoping to spark a sea change in the application of statistics to criminal cases. If you are a statistician who is interested in pursuing this mission statement, please sign your name and contact information to the Google Docs page below: The page will be distributed to many legal scholars, social scientists, and statisticians in hopes of forming ideal collaborations for the special issue: https://goo.gl/T9f2ik

Original research reports, literature reviews and policy papers that address the following issues are especially welcome: (1) use, misuse, abuse or potential uses of statistics in cases involving jury selection, risk assessment, policing, DNA analysis, or any other area of criminal law; (2) how judges have applied (or should apply) statistics to their gatekeeping function; (3) best practices for relying on and describing statistics in expert witness testimony; (4) the teaching and instruction of statistics across the varied programs that prepare professionals to work on criminal cases; (5) agency and relevant association standards for the reporting and interpretation of statistics in criminal cases; (6) how statistical standards might be used to determine the admissibility of empirical research in expert witness testimony.

Manuscripts should be 20 to 30 doubled-spaced typewritten pages and should comply with the editorial and referencing style of the most recent edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association or the Harvard law Review’s The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (but not both). Specific stylistic requirements can be found in a recent copy of the journal, or can be obtained via direct communication with the journal’s editors (Chris Slobogin, Charles Ewing and Alan Felthous).

To expedite processing, submit your manuscript electronically. Authors should use e-mail attachment, with the manuscript readable in Windows-based MS Word or Word Perfect formats. Manuscripts must be received before September 1, 2018. Please submit electronically to: Christopher Slobogin, Vanderbilt University Law School 131 21st Ave. South, Nashville, Tn. 37203 c.slobogin@vanderbilt.edu