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- IS 6363: Digital Forensics - Systematic Literature Review (Choo)
IS 6363: Digital Forensics - Systematic Literature Review (Choo)
Research Librarian
University of Texas at San Antonio
San Antonio, TX 78249-0671
Purpose
The purpose of this guide is to provide guidance on conducting review of research articles on a selected topic to help you:
- Understand the difference between literature review vs. systematic review.
- Identify relevant keywords and construct effective search statements.
- Use advanced features of UTSA databases and Google Scholar to run searches.
- Formulate selection criteria for research articles and methodology for your review.
- Utilize citation managers to export, organize and cite relevant articles.
Google Scholar - Get Oriented
Google Scholar is a good starting point to begin your research, assess how much is already published on your topic, and identify keywords and synonyms to expand your search.
It covers scholarly literature, including journal articles, scholarly book chapters, works from institutional repositories, pre-prints, conference proceedings, as well as patents and legal opinions. It does NOT include trade journals or magazines.
Google Scholar Off Campus
To ensure that you have access off campus to full text provided by the Libraries, establish your affiliation with the UTSA Libraries. Click the link for instructions:
Google Scholar Search Tips
- Word order matters
- Use quotation marks "search phrase" to search words next to each other
- AND is already implied in the search algorithm, but you may use AND to combine concepts. It slightly changes results.
- Use OR to add synonyms and expand your search.
- Google Scholar ignores parenthesis ( ) for grouping.
- Filter by Date on the left hand menu.
- Click on Cited By in a result to see additional articles that cite this article.
- Go to Advanced Google Scholar search by clicking on the menu icon in the top left corner > Advanced Search.
Search Example
Start simple and then improve by applying " " operators and adding synonyms. Put OR statements first.
"digital forensics" OR "cloud forensics" AND IoT
UTSA Databases
Google Scholar searching is not sufficient for a systematic literature review. Database searching is required for these reasons:
- Proprietary subscription content not available or not accessible in full text for free on the Web
- Rich metadata and powerful search with more comprehensive and precise results and full text access
Search functionality differs among databases, but generally you can expect support for:
- Boolean operators AND to combine search terms, OR to expand results, NOT to exclude
- Wildcard * (or other symbol) to allow stem searching for variants of a word, e.g. crim* would search for crime and criminal
- Parenthesis ( ) to group search terms
- Quotation marks " " to search keywords next to each other
- Limiting searches to TITLE, ABSTRACT and other fields
- Limiting by date, type of publication (e.g. research article vs. conference proceeding vs. trade journal, etc.)
- Exporting to citation managers
Specialized Databases
- ACM Digital Library This link opens in a new windowProvides full-text access to computer science and information technology literature in all ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) journals and magazines, transactions, conference proceedings, and SIG newsletters. Some coverage begins in the 1950s.
- IEEE Xplore/IET Electronic Library Online (IEL) This link opens in a new windowProvides full-text journal articles, conference papers, and technical standards published by IEEE and the IEE. Emphasis is on electrical engineering, computer science, and information systems.
- Engineering Village 2 This link opens in a new windowDesigned for engineers across many fields and sub-fields, this database allows the user to independently or simultaneously search the Compendex and Inspec databases. Provides access to the international engineering literature including thousands of journals, conference proceedings, dissertations, books, reports, and technical standards.
Publisher Databases
Full-text and Indexing Aggregators
- ProQuest This link opens in a new windowProvides access to journals, magazines, conference proceeding and more across multiple subject areas, including cyber security.
- EBSCOhost Databases This link opens in a new windowProvides bibliographic and full-text access to journals articles and other content across multiple disciplines. Select Academic Search Complete, Business Source Complete, Computer Source, and Science and Technology Collection for your search.
Required Textbook
Required Text
- File System Forensic Analysis by Brian CarrierCall Number: Online - Safari (O’Reilly for Higher Education)ISBN: 0321268172Publication Date: 2005
Recommended Book
- Digital Forensic Education by Xiaolu Zhang (Editor); Kim-Kwang Raymond Choo (Editor)ISBN: 3030235467Publication Date: 2019
PRISMA 2020: Guidelines and Checklist for Systematic Reviews
- The PRISMA 2020 Statement: an Updated Guideline for Reporting Systematic ReviewsThe Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement, updated in 2020, provides guidance for authors. It includes a 27-item checklist, an expanded checklist with reporting recommendations for each item, the PRISMA 2020 abstract checklist, and revised flow diagrams for original and updated reviews.
Originally developed for healthcare fields, these guidelines are now adopted by other disciplines.
BMJ 2021;372:n71 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n71
Examples of Literature Review Articles
Review these articles suggested by Dr. Choo for methodology and overall approach to analysis and presentation. Listed keywords are supplied in the article metadata.
- Internet of Things Applications: A Systematic ReviewApplication-based services | Internet of Things | Systematic literature review | Smart objects | Quality of service
- A Systematic Survey on Cloud Forensics Challenges, Solutions, and Future DirectionsCloud forensics | digital forensics in cloud | forensic challenges in cloud | cloud storage |
artifacts forensics | cloud network forensics | VM forensics in cloud | SDN forensics - Impacts of increasing volume of digital forensic data: A survey and future research challengesData mining | Data volume | Digital forensics | Evidence discovery | Forensic computer analysis |
Intelligence analysis | Knowledge management - Fog data analytics: A taxonomy and process modelBig data | Fog data analytics | Data collection | Data storage | Data reduction | Data security and privacy
- Threaten me softly: A review of potential dating app risksDating apps | Online dating | Mobile forensics | Dating app artifacts | Dating app risks | Dating app forensics
- Remote Wiping and Secure Deletion on Mobile Devices: A ReviewForensic science | Remote wiping | Secure deletion | Flash storage | NAND | Nonvolatile flash memory | Solid-state drive/disk
- Windows 7 Antiforensics: A Review and a Novel ApproachForensic science | Digital forensics | Windows 7 antiforensics | DarkComet RAT | Trojan Horse Defence