Visual Analysis of the Current Status and Trends in Forensic Microbiology Research Based on Bibliometrics

doi:10.12116/j.issn.1004-5619.2023.531207

Abstract

Abstract:

Objective To understand the current status and trends in forensic microbiology research using bibliometric analysis methods. Methods A total of 533 papers related to forensic microbiology published in the Web of Science Core Collection from 2010 to 2022 were selected as research objects. Bibliometrix and VOSviewer were used to conduct a visual analysis of the annual publication volume, journals, countries （regions）， institutions, authors, and keywords co-occurrence networks in this field. Results The annual publication volume showed an overall upward trend, reaching a peak of 72 publications in 2021. The literature primarily appeared in journals focusing on forensics, microbiology and comprehensive journals. The top high-yield countries were the United States （231 papers）, China （47 papers）, and Australia （32 papers）. Michigan State University in the United States contributed the highest publication volume （25 papers）, and the author with the highest publication volume was BENBOW ME from the university. Keyword co-occurrence analysis revealed that forensic microbiology was initially mainly applied in the field of biosafety. With the advancement of sequencing technologies, new application areas, such as postmortem interval estimation, have emerged. Current research hotspots in this field primarily focused on biosafety, postmortem interval estimation, and genetic sequencing analysis, demonstrating a trend of multi-institutional collaboration and interdisciplinary integration. Conclusion In recent years, research in forensic microbiology has exhibited rapid growth. The cross-combination of high-throughput sequencing technologies and bioinformatics with forensic microbiology has driven the significant advancement of this field.

Key words: forensic medicine, forensic microbiology, bibliometrics, visual analysis, Web of Science

CLC Number:

Tian WANG, Li-wei ZHANG, Dai-jing YU, Jun ZHANG, Jiang-wei YAN. Visual Analysis of the Current Status and Trends in Forensic Microbiology Research Based on Bibliometrics[J]. Journal of Forensic Medicine, 2026, 42(1): 17-25.

Figures/Tables 7

References 36

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期刊	发文量/篇	影响因子	大类分区	小类分区	国家（地区）	被引频次
Forensic Sci Int	50	2.2	医学3区	法医学2区	爱尔兰	1 276
J Forensic Sci	50	1.6	医学4区	法医学3区	美国	1 306
Forensic Sci Int Genet	38	3.1	医学2区	法医学1区	爱尔兰	775
Front Microbiol	25	5.2	生物学2区Top	微生物学3区	瑞士	311
Int J Legal Med	25	2.1	医学3区	法医学2区	德国	605
J Forensic Leg Med	20	1.5	医学4区	法医学4区	英格兰	83
PLoS One	18	3.7	综合性期刊3区	综合性期刊3区	美国	1 019
Sci Rep	14	4.6	综合性期刊2区	综合性期刊2区	英格兰	344
Microbiol Spectr	10	3.7	生物学2区	微生物学3区	美国	6
Appl Environ Microbiol	9	4.4	生物学2区	微生物学3区	美国	857

期刊	发文量/篇	影响因子	大类分区	小类分区	国家（地区）	被引频次
Forensic Sci Int	50	2.2	医学3区	法医学2区	爱尔兰	1 276
J Forensic Sci	50	1.6	医学4区	法医学3区	美国	1 306
Forensic Sci Int Genet	38	3.1	医学2区	法医学1区	爱尔兰	775
Front Microbiol	25	5.2	生物学2区Top	微生物学3区	瑞士	311
Int J Legal Med	25	2.1	医学3区	法医学2区	德国	605
J Forensic Leg Med	20	1.5	医学4区	法医学4区	英格兰	83
PLoS One	18	3.7	综合性期刊3区	综合性期刊3区	美国	1 019
Sci Rep	14	4.6	综合性期刊2区	综合性期刊2区	英格兰	344
Microbiol Spectr	10	3.7	生物学2区	微生物学3区	美国	6
Appl Environ Microbiol	9	4.4	生物学2区	微生物学3区	美国	857

通信作者	期刊	文献	发表年份	LC	GC	LC/GC
FIERER N	P Natl Acad Sci U S A	Forensic identification using skin bacterial communities^[14]	2010	93	381	24.41%
METCALF J L	Science	Microbial community assembly and metabolic function during mammalian corpse decomposition^[15]	2016	81	281	28.83%
METCALF J L	eLife	A microbial clock provides an accurate estimate of the postmortem interval in a mouse model system^[16]	2013	85	198	42.93%
PECHAL J L	Int J Legal Med	The potential use of bacterial community succession in forensics as described by high throughput metagenomic sequen-cing^[17]	2014	90	179	50.28%
HYDE E R	PLoS One	The living dead： Bacterial community structure of a cadaver at the onset and end of the bloat stage of decomposition^[18]	2013	55	132	41.67%
LAX S	Microbiome	Forensic analysis of the microbiome of phones and shoes^[19]	2015	58	97	59.79%
COBAUGH K L	PLoS One	Functional and structural succession of soil microbial communities below decomposing human cadavers^[20]	2015	45	95	47.37%
JAVAN G T	Sci Rep	Human thanatomicrobiome succession and time since death^[21]	2016	51	88	57.95%
HAUTHER K A	J Forensic Sci	Estimating time since death from postmortem human gut microbial communities^[22]	2015	46	79	58.23%
DAMANN F E	J Forensic Sci	Potential use of bacterial community succession in decaying human bone for estimating postmortem interval^[23]	2015	43	72	59.72%

通信作者	期刊	文献	发表年份	LC	GC	LC/GC
FIERER N	P Natl Acad Sci U S A	Forensic identification using skin bacterial communities^[14]	2010	93	381	24.41%
METCALF J L	Science	Microbial community assembly and metabolic function during mammalian corpse decomposition^[15]	2016	81	281	28.83%
METCALF J L	eLife	A microbial clock provides an accurate estimate of the postmortem interval in a mouse model system^[16]	2013	85	198	42.93%
PECHAL J L	Int J Legal Med	The potential use of bacterial community succession in forensics as described by high throughput metagenomic sequen-cing^[17]	2014	90	179	50.28%
HYDE E R	PLoS One	The living dead： Bacterial community structure of a cadaver at the onset and end of the bloat stage of decomposition^[18]	2013	55	132	41.67%
LAX S	Microbiome	Forensic analysis of the microbiome of phones and shoes^[19]	2015	58	97	59.79%
COBAUGH K L	PLoS One	Functional and structural succession of soil microbial communities below decomposing human cadavers^[20]	2015	45	95	47.37%
JAVAN G T	Sci Rep	Human thanatomicrobiome succession and time since death^[21]	2016	51	88	57.95%
HAUTHER K A	J Forensic Sci	Estimating time since death from postmortem human gut microbial communities^[22]	2015	46	79	58.23%
DAMANN F E	J Forensic Sci	Potential use of bacterial community succession in decaying human bone for estimating postmortem interval^[23]	2015	43	72	59.72%