On the Forensic Examination of Paper

Paper is a multi-component material based on plant fibers, technologically joined together into a sheet. Studying paper tasks are assigned to specialists in the forensic-technical examination of documents, to chemists and materials scientists. Examination of paper can be a sub-task to address specific questions set to other types of expertise. Meanwhile, there is not enough attention to this problem in the specialized literature. There are some publications in various compilations or small sections in works devoted to documents’ materials study. Some of the works that reveal the features of the analysis of the materials science characteristics of paper have been written by the paper industry’s technologists and are far from forensic examinations’ specifics and methodological foundations.The article’s main objective is to demonstrate the need for new scientific studies and methodological developments in the forensic-technical examination of documents. The article describes the range of tasks solved by this type of examination, identifies the main opportunities for paper studies.