Questioned document examination (QDE)

DEFINITION: Examination of documents to determine their origins or establish their authenticity.

SIGNIFICANCE: Questioned document analysis has a broad scope, given that it can involve any item containing writing or symbols to convey meaning (such as a handwritten letter, a contract, or even graffiti on a lavatory wall). Forensic document examiners play important roles in the analysis of evidence in cases of fraud, forgery, counterfeiting, threats, and many other offenses.

The need for forensic document examiners emerged in the legal system as the courts needed help in handling, preparing, and interpreting document evidence. Document examiners employ many different methods depending on the questions they seek to answer. For example, is the signature on a given piece of art genuine? Were the diaries attributed to a particular person really written by that individual? Can a threatening letter be linked to a suspect? Was a page added to a business contract prior to or after the date of the original signature on the contract? A typical questioned document examination includes handwriting identification and analysis, analysis of printing devices, paper identification, ink identification, and examination of elements within the document such as indented markings, erasures, alterations, and obliterations. Document examiners also sometimes are called upon to analyze written materials that have been damaged by fire or water. The Scientific Working Group for Forensic Document Examiners (SWGDOC) develops consensus-based guidelines and standards that recommend the scope, methods, terminology and limitations of forensic document examination.

Both paper and print examinations involve the comparison of questioned items to known sources, which are called standards. Through this process, forensic document examiners may be able to link questioned materials to established sources. Forensic document examiners are often asked to determine the authenticity of documents based on the documents’ purported dates, and comparisons with known standards can enable them to establish the histories and origins of such documents. Another common task performed by forensic document examiners is the assessment of whether multiple documents have a common origin—for example, to determine whether certain documents can be linked to materials that have been seized from a suspect.

Knowledge of paper production processes and printing processes can help document examiners to identify class and individual characteristics in questioned documents. For instance, forensic document examiners are commonly asked to identify the types of printers used to produce particular documents. To do so, they might focus on watermarks, indentations, or accidental markings that result from the printing process.

By using digital imaging systems such as scanners, microscopes, video spectral comparators, combinations of light sources and optical filters, and chemical testing techniques such as thin-layer chromatography (TLC), gas chromatography (GC),mass spectrometry (MS), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), capillary electrophoresis (CE), Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and UV-Vis and related spectroscopy, document examiners can identify the similarities in chemical properties in the elements used in documents. This often enables them to determine how and when the documents in question were created, and thus can lead to information on who created the documents.

Questioned document examination also includes digital document assessments for data analysis, including metadata, file properties, proof of tampering with files, email spoofing, and other applications that validate the authenticity of digital and electronic documents.

Bibliography

Bicknell, Danna E. Scientific Working Group for Forensic Document Examination (SWGDOC) Bylaws, 11 June 2012, swgdoc.org/documents/SWGDOC-Bylaws-102212.pdf. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.

Deviterne-Lapeyre, Marie, and Samiah Ibrahim. “Interpol Questioned Documents Review 2019–2022.” Forensic Science International: Synergy, vol. 6, 2023, doi:10.1016/j.fsisyn.2022.100300. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.

Devlin, Ciara, et al. “Forensic Intelligence: Expanding the Potential of Forensic Document Examination.” WIREs Forensic Science, 10 July 2024, doi:10.1002/wfs2.1528. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.

James, Stuart H., and Jon J. Nordby, editors. Forensic Science: An Introduction to Scientific and Investigative Techniques. 2nd ed., CRC Press, 2005.

Kelly, Jan Seaman, and Brian S. Lindblom, editors. Scientific Examination of Questioned Documents. 2nd ed., CRC Press, 2006.

Spencer, James T. Introduction to Forensic Science: The Science of Criminalistics. CRC Press, 2024.

Storer, William H. “Questioned Documents.” Introduction to Forensic Sciences, edited by William G. Eckert, 2nd ed., CRC Press, 1997.

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Laboratory and Scientific Section. Guide for the Development of Forensic Document Examination Capacity. United Nations, July 2010, www.unodc.org/documents/scientific/Forensic_Document_Examination_Capacity.pdf. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.