What is the American Polygraph Association (APA)?

The American Polygraph Association (APA) is a professional membership organization for polygraph examiners, educators, and researchers, established in 1966 and describing itself as the world's leading association dedicated to evidence-based scientific methods for credibility assessment. It is relevant to you if you are a polygraph professional seeking standards, training, and resources, or if you are trying to understand who sets practice norms in the polygraph field. It is an association, not a testing service or a regulator, so it does not itself administer exams to the public.

What the APA does

The APA's stated purpose is to provide training, model best practices, and offer professional resources for ethical, evidence-based detection of deception through polygraph use. Its work centers on:

• Standards for professional practice — covering techniques, instrumentation, analysis, research, training, and continuing education, which the association establishes and publishes.
• Training and continuing education — supporting the professional growth of examiners.
• Best-practice modeling — communicating and promoting valid, ethical polygraph practices in the public interest.

Who belongs

The membership consists of professional polygraph examiners, educators, and researchers. According to the site, the APA serves 2,700+ members drawn from the private, law enforcement, and government fields, making it the largest polygraph association by its own description.

A practical note for members

The site's announcements include a caution from the APA president about third-party service companies that may assign an examiner to an examination without the examiner's knowledge or consent. The association says it had not received formal complaints from members on this issue but was aware of outside reports. Its suggested precaution: before accepting a referral or assignment from any third-party provider, verify the identity of the requesting party, the terms of the engagement, and that the assignment is authorized with your knowledge and agreement. For examiners who take work through intermediaries, that is a concrete due-diligence step rather than a formality.

How to use this

If you are a working examiner or researcher, the APA is the body to check for published practice standards and training resources, and membership connects you to peers across the three main employment sectors. If you are a member of the public researching polygraph credibility, treat the APA as a source on professional standards and ethics—not as a provider of examinations or as an independent certification you can look up per examiner from this page alone.