Heighten Science's Journal of Forensic Science and Research

Heighten Science Publications Corporation seems to be run out of a house in the Dallas area (by the town's mayor). It publishes a Journal of Forensic Science and Research. The journal has no editor and no editorial board members. At least, none are listed on its website. The home page lists "recent articles" -- all from 2017. Forensic scientists will be pleased to learn that "The Journal of Forensic Science and Research considers forensic science as a multidisciplinary and rigorous discipline which is at an important stage of its development."

The webpage has buttons to list articles by country. There are two from the U.S., dated 2017 -- on sports medicine rather than forensic science. The page is full of links to the content of other Heighten journals. When I finally navigated to the page of "all volumes and issues" of the Journal of Forensic Science and Research, there were three issues. Volume 1(1) contains articles such as "WMW: A Secure, Web based Middleware for C4I Interoperable Applications." Issue 2 has four articles in forensic medicine. Finally, Volume 2(1) has two articles, on topics in forensic toxicology and entomology. All told, there are not many pages for two volumes (or even one).

Given the absence of indicia of quality for Heighten Science journals, one wonders why reputable researchers would publish there. Yet, some do. A short case report from Steven A Koehler and Victor W Weedn on a "Failure to Autopsy: The Otto Warmbier Case" can be found in Issue 2 of Volume 1. Dr. Weedn is a professor at George Washington University and was the Senior Forensic Advisor in the U.S. Department of Justice.