Mapping Global Research Trends in Post-Mortem Interval Estimation: A Bibliometric Analysis (2015-2025)

This bibliometric analysis reveals a substantial increase in global research on postmortem interval (PMI) estimation over the last decade, reflecting growing scientific interest in molecular, omics-based, and data-driven approaches. The bibliometric findings indicate growing research attention toward advanced analytical techniques and interdisciplinary approaches in forensic science. This bibliometric analysis examined Scopus-indexed literature on postmortem interval estimation published between 2015 and 2025. Using VOSviewer, 643 retrieved records were screened, and 497 eligible research articles were analyzed to evaluate publication trends, leading journals, countries, institutions, authors, and keyword co-occurrence and co-citation networks. The analysis revealed a significant and sustained increase in publications over the last two years, reflecting increasing scientific interest in emerging technologies for PMI estimation research. The co-citation analysis identified foundational works that define modern research trends in PMI estimation. Overall, the bibliometric evidence suggests a growing integration of conventional postmortem examination methods with molecular, omics-based, and computational approaches in the scientific literature on PMI estimation.