Studying the Methods to Determine the Age of Ink: A Critical Review of Ink Dating Methods

Abstract

On the basis of the type of ink, pen inks are classified as ballpoint pens or non-ballpoint pens. Ballpoint pen inks are oil-based inks (ballpoint pens). While non-ballpoint pen inks are water-based inks (gel pens, fountain pens, pilot pens, fibre tip pens, etc.). Different approaches related to the determination of the age of ink were proposed in the literature, including ballpoint pen inks, non-ballpoint pen inks and stamp pad inks. This study provides a comprehensive appreciation of analytical research studies that were published from the year 2000 to year 2020 on the determination of the age of inks. Owing to contemporary technological advancements, the process has been developed in many folds. However, its reliability is questioned due to the variability in methods and results. Research works related to the aging of ink have been compiled to assist the researchers and the forensic document examiners and to provide an overall insight regarding the works done so far. In an attempt to unravel this issue of questioned document examination, a critical and systematic review of the literature is proposed to encourage the usage of various tools and techniques necessary to establish the age of ink in different case works.