Research Trends in Forensic Sciences

Abstract

This chapter outlines how scientometric tools and techniques are increasingly used to find the growth and direction of research. Forensic sciences are the application of science and technology in the administration of law and justice. Forensic Sciences encompass a wide range of subspecialties which are applied in adjudication of civil and criminal legal issues. Five subspecialties, viz., Forensic Anthropology (FA), Forensic Genetics (FG), Forensic Medicine (FM), Forensic Psychology (FP), and Forensic Toxicology (FT) were comparatively analyzed to find the growth of literature, source documents contributing to the literature growth and also the keywords used to find the research trends in these subspecialties. Data pertaining to these subspecialties documented from 2006 to 2015 were retrieved from the Science Direct platform and studied using MS-Excel and VOSviewer. The cumulative growth of literature showed a linear trend. The study found Forensic Science International as the top contributing journal. Significant association was observed between FA, FG, FM and FT literature while FP was not.