Knowledge and research mapping of the data and database forensics domains: A bibliometric analysis

Abstract

The field of digital forensics has undergone rapid development alongside the technological advancements of the latest century. This study focuses in two of its subdomains, namely database forensics and data forensics. Though the concept of a database is relatively old, there is an academic void when it comes to its research compared to different domains in digital forensics. Data forensics has a myriad of applications, however there appears to be a lack of standardization in regards to the field itself throughout the different disciplines of the forensic field. Our main objectives with this study were to identify the prominent trends, uncover research gaps or further research necessity and to provide a high level outline of the selected domains. To fulfill the objectives, we designed and executed a protocol with predefined phases, steps, and activities that all stem from the principles of bibliometric analysis. The findings of the methodological procedure are presented and the research questions are answered in a concise manner. The two domains have considerable growth, given how recently they emerged in literature. However, there are issues present in the current literature that might hinder the future research and might repulse not only the aspiring but also the current professionals of the forensic field. These issues must be resolved in order to make the selected domains less elusive when it comes to cross-domain applications and when new practitioners are concerned.