Document Analysis And Fingerprint Research

Forged signatures are a significant problem in the Arabic world, for instance there are approximately 15,000 cases in the Cairo district each year.  The work carried out by Abdulaziz Alkahtani will contribute to the small volume of existing literature on the analysis of Arabic script and by investigating national variations, will add a dimension that has not previously been studied.  The correlation of simulated signatures with normal handwriting will, if successful be an important result within the field of document analysis in general. Similarly the statistical analysis will provide a novel means of analysing handwriting samples which could be of benefit not only to document analysts in their work, but may also convince sceptical authorities that it is a forensically valuable method of identification.  Whilst all this work will be carried out in the context of Arabian script the results and their significance should be more widely applicable.  In the current political climate the analysis of Arabic script has an increased significance to the global population.  The results of this work are currently being published and can be seen here (PDF, file size: 271.15KB) .

Several publications have been made :

Relative Difficulty of Freehand Simulation of Four Proportional Elements in Arabic Signatures
Abdulaziz Alkahtani and Andrew W G Platt 
J. Soc. Am. Quest. Doc. 12(2) 69-76 (2009)

A Statistical Study of the Relative Difficulty of Freehand Simulation of Form, Proportion, and Line Quality in Arabic Signatures 
Abdulaziz Alkahtani and Andrew W G Platt 
Science and Justice 50  72–76 (2010)

Abdulaziz Al-Musa Alkahtani, and Andrew W. G. Platt
The Influence of Gender on Ability to Simulate Handwritten Signatures: A Study of Arabic Writers
Journal of Forensic Sciences 56 (2011) 950-953
The article can be viewed here (PDF, file size: 166.43KB) . 

Classification of Papers by Raman Spectroscopy & SERRS (Nikolaos Kalantzis Email: N.Kalantzis@staffs.ac.uk)

It has been shown, substrate interference is present in Raman spectra collection, especially using S.E.R.R.S., for certain combinations of paper and ink.
This project deals with different paper types and their spectral behaviour under laser excitation at 685nm.
The goal is to classify more than 200 papers into groups according to their spectra, so that they can be investigated as to their group interaction with ink classes.

Nikolaos Kalantzis has been awarded the Forensic Science Society Research Scholarship for 2009, for this project.

Determination of the sequence of latent marks and writing or printing on suspect documents (Sarah Fieldhouse Email: s.j.fieldhouse@staffs.ac.uk, Nikolaos Kalantzis Email: N.Kalantzis@staffs.ac.uk, Andy Platt Email: a.platt@staffs.ac.uk).

When suspect documents (carrying writing or printing) are recovered from a crime scene it is important not only to recover latent marks, but also to establish the sequence of those latent marks and writing/printing (i.e. if the latent mark was present on the document before or after it was printed).
There is no published literature available at the moment, as this problem involves the work of both fingerprint and document experts.
In the current project, documents that carry writing or printing from several writing media (ballpoint pens, laser printers etc) have been treated with all available latent fingermark development techniques. Positive results have been acquired for some combinations, and the next phase of this project will be the evaluation of the initial findings via multiple samples and blind tests.

Results of this research have been presented in the XIV Scientific Symposium of Handwriting Expertise in Wroclaw (2010).

Sources of Error in The Examination of Inks Through Raman Spectroscopy (Nikolaos Kalantzis Email:
N.Kalantzis@staffs.ac.uk, Andy Platt Email: a.platt@staffs.ac.uk).

Raman spectroscopy is increasingly used in private or government laboratories for the examination
and discrimination of inks. This technique is very powerful, providing better discrimination than NIR
techniques and instrumentation used, but also has limitations.
This research project investigates the possible sources of errors and interferences in the collection of
Raman Spectra.
Several different samples and writing conditions are examined, and different substrates are
considered.

Results of this research have been presented as a poster presentation in the Forensic Science Society 2009 Autumn conference in Harrogate, an oral presentation in the XIII Scientific Symposium of Handwriting Expertise in Wroclaw (2008), in the 4th International conference of the Forensic Medicine Authority in Egypt (2010) and in the VIIIth International Congress of the Association of Forensic Handwriting Experts (G.F.S.) in Dresden (2010).

Statistical evaluation of characteristic features of left, right & awkward handwriting (Nikolaos Kalantzis Email: N.Kalantzis@staffs.ac.uk, Andy Platt Email: a.platt@staffs.ac.uk).

Left-handed and right-handed people inevitably use different writing positions. The physical positioning of the writing hand on paper affects part of the characteristics of writing.
With regard to the process that takes place when writing, Brault and Plamondon (JoOP 1983 56. Inferring Personal Qualities Through Handwriting of Analysis) report: "For each word, each letter is shaped since it passes from three levels of depiction:
1. Grapheme (the significance of letter without concrete form)
2. Allograph (representation for concrete press of letter)
3. Graph (portraying sequence of suitable movements for the shaping of letter).
These three stages describe the intellectual process which follows from the implementation of suitable movements with activation suitable initiating with the right order that is required to shape the graph. When people write using the awkward hand, the third part (the graph) is altered, while parts of the grapheme and the allograph remain.
The aim of this research is to identify & evaluate the statistical value of the characteristic features of left, right & awkward handwriting. To evaluate the stability of the characteristics of awkward handwriting, specimens of the same people over a large period of time will be collected and evaluated.

If you would like to participate in this research please print off the following forms,
complete and return to Dr. Platt at Faculty of Sciences, Staffordshire University, Stoke on Trent, ST4 2DE.

Consent Form (PDF, file size: 21KB)
Questionnaire (PDF, file size: 9.63KB)
Sample Form (PDF, file size: 16.45KB)
Polish Sample Form

(PDF, file size: 332.98KB) Information Sheet (PDF, file size: 9.03KB)