Bibliometrics Analysis in English and Chinese Literature on Drowning in Forensic Medicine from 1991 to 2020

To explore the research hotspots and development trends of the field of forensic drowning from 1991 to 2020 by bibliometrics methods.

Based on Web of Science, CNKI database, Wanfang Data knowledge service platform, python 3.9.2, CiteSpace 5.8.R3, Gephi 0.9.2, etc. were used to analyze the publishing trends, countries/regions, institutions, authors and topics of the study on drowning.

A total of 631 English literature were obtained, including 59 articles from Chinese authors, and 386 Chinese literature were obtained. The Chinese and English journals with the largest number of related literatures were Chinese Journal of Forensic Science (80 articles) and Forensic Science International (106 articles), respectively. Japan published the most articles in English, and China ranked third. Osaka City Univ (Japan, 28 articles) published the most English articles, and Guangzhou Forens Sci Inst (China, 22 articles) ranked second. Among Chinese literature, Guangzhou Forens Sci Inst (32 articles) published the most. The topic analysis of Chinese and English literature showed that diatom examination, virtual autopsy, postmortem biochemical examination, the nature of death, and postmortem submersion interval were the hot spots of current research, but English literature had more studies on new technologies and methods, while Chinese literature was more inclined to practice, application and experience summary.

The number of literature in forensic medicine on drowning is relatively stable. The scope of international and domestic collaborations in this field is still limited. The automated examination of diatoms, the establishment of diatom DNA barcodes and virtual autopsy will be the most important research hotspots in the coming period and are expected to achieve breakthroughs in drowning diagnosis, drowning location inference, postmortem submersion interval estimation, etc.