The Scientific Profiles of Documented Collections via Publication Data: Past, Present, and Future Directions in Forensic Anthropology

Francisca Alves-Cardoso,Vanessa Campanacho

doi:10.3390/forensicsci2010004

Abstract

Human osteological documented collections (DCs), also referred to as “identified collections”, are a valuable resource in biological and forensic anthropology, as they offer the possibility for hypothesis-driven research on sex and age-at-death estimation methods, human variability, and other morphometric-based parameters of individual identification. Consequently, they feature in many publications addressing the forensic sciences. The paper aims to explore the scientific profiles of DCs via publication using bibliometric data. The Dimensions databases were used to select the DC-related keywords in the title and abstracts of the publications. The search result analysis and extraction were conducted using VOSviewer. A total of 376 articles were found, published between 1969 and 2021 (November). The number of publications has increased over the years, specifically after 2011. The results show that most of the publications are associated with countries such as the United States and Portugal (the latter highlights the University of Coimbra), that the research tends to focus on human biological profiling (e.g., age, sex assessments), and that the journals with the highest numbers of publications were related to forensic sciences. This analysis shows a positive correlation between DC publications and the growth of forensic anthropology in recent years, with a slight shift towards the leading institutions that publish DC-based research. Hence, we can anticipate a change in the institutional leading profiles in the years to come.

Highlights

The early years of the 21st century gave rise to a more visible forensic anthropology, in academia, and in society
An exponential increase in the visibility of forensic anthropology occurred in the early years of the 21st century, driven, in part, by popular crime television shows
With the “CSI effect” came the demand to learn more about human remains in a forensic context, as shown by the rise in the number of students pursuing forensic anthropology courses within universities

Summary

Introduction

The early years of the 21st century gave rise to a more visible forensic anthropology, in academia, and in society This visibility may, in part, be a consequence of the “CSI effect”, which highlights how popular culture has permeated forensic research in general, and forensic anthropology in particular [1,2,3,4]. Forensic anthropology courses within universities have grown, with scholars and universities worldwide investing and promoting programs on the study of human remains, with a stress on forensic anthropology. This wave of popularity has already been acknowledged by some well-known forensic scientists [5,6,7,8]. The term “documented collections” is used here as a reference to human osteological identified collections, which are collections composed of human osteological remains, and of biographical information and other associated data; they are composed of “documented” human remains

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Conclusion