[Bibliometric and Visual Analysis of Forensic Research on Body Fluid Identification].

Abstract

Objectives: To analyze the literature in the field of body fluid identification collected in the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database from 2000 to 2023, and explore the research status, hotspots and development trends in this field.

Methods: The CiteSpace software was utilized to conduct a visual analysis of the literature in the field of body fluid identification included in the WoSCC database from 2000 to 2023. Meanwhile, a bibliometric analysis of the annual publication volume, journal distribution, national contribution, research institutions, author collaboration, and keywords of the literature was conducted.

Results: A total of 715 papers on forensic body fluid identification were included, and the annual publication volume showed a continuous and stable growth. Among the 55 countries (regions) that published papers, the United States ranked first with 174 papers, followed by China with 107 papers. In terms of journal distribution, Forensic Science International: Genetics had the largest number of papers, which accounted for 20% of the total papers. In terms of author collaboration, a total of 2 079 authors participated in body fluid identification research, and the author collaboration network showed a clearly clustered distribution. The keywords analysis revealed that research hotspots focused on traditional methods, specific RNA molecular markers, DNA methylation, spectroscopy, and the application of microbiomics.

Conclusions: Research in the field of forensic body fluid identification is thriving, and research institutions and teams should strengthen their collaboration. Establishing unified result interpretation standards and systems and exploring the multiple biomarkers combined application methods will be the research hotspots and important directions for future research in this field.