Forensic wound age estimation (2003-2024): evolving perspectives on tissue viability and molecular pathology.

Determining the precise timing of injuries remains a longstanding and complex challenge in forensic pathology. Within the domain of injury time extrapolation, our research emphasizes the use of immunohistochemical techniques to detect wound viability markers, offering a promising approach to infer the temporal dynamics of tissue injury. Despite growing interest in this area, comprehensive bibliometric analyses remain scarce. This study aims to evaluate the current landscape and emerging trends in forensic injury time extrapolation through a systematic bibliometric approach. Relevant literature was retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (WOSCC), covering the period from January 2003 to August 2024. A total of 992 publications were analyzed using a suite of bibliometric tools, including VOSviewer, CiteSpace, Pajek, and Scimago Graphica. Quantitative indicators, such as publication output, country and institutional contributions, key authors and journals, keyword frequencies, and citation patterns, were examined to map the structural and thematic development of the field. The results revealed that China and the United States are the leading contributors to this area of research, with the Chinese Academy of Sciences identified as the most productive institution (n = 19). The International Journal of Legal Medicine emerged as the most prolific journal (n = 33), while Analytical Chemistry held the highest citation count (n = 155, impact factor = 6.7). Keyword co-occurrence analysis highlighted "system" (n = 43), "model" (n = 40), and "expression" (n = 36) as dominant thematic elements. Notably, recent years have seen a marked increase in studies focusing on immunohistochemistry and wound viability markers. Collectively, the findings underscore the growing importance of forensic injury time extrapolation as a research frontier. The prominence of viability markers and immunohistochemical methods suggests a shift toward molecular and cellular-level investigations, holding significant potential for enhancing the precision of forensic timing techniques in future studies.