Scientific Working Groups, or SWGs for short, are groups of leading professionals from various fields in forensic science who work together for advancement in their area of science. Most SWGs are largely funded by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) with the purpose of proposing guidelines regarding the use of testing standards, reporting suggestions, and recommended standard practices for both new and traditional technologies. Even though the SWGs cannot enforce the use of these guidelines, they provide suggestions which are reached as the consensus of professionals from various agencies, and can be used by laboratories at federal, state, and local levels.
