Mapping a Quarter-Century of Forensic Nursing Research: A Multi-Database Bibliometric and Science-Mapping Analysis (2000–2025)

BACKGROUND: Forensic nursing spans interpersonal violence, correctional and forensic mental health, and death investigation, yet its research base has been mapped only in fragments. AIMS: To map the indexed literature of forensic nursing published between 2000 and 2025, and to identify where its evidence base is thinnest. METHODS: Performance analysis and science mapping of 1,221 documents (2000-2025), retrieved from Scopus and Web of Science by a 30-term topic query within three defined journal sets, analyzed in bibliometrix. RESULTS: Output grew 7.66% annually; one journal carried 47.8% of documents. The United States led production (51.0% of resolvable corresponding addresses) but was the least internationally connected major producer (3.3%), against 9.2% overall. Interpersonal violence dominated the indexed vocabulary; trafficking, exploitation and forensic mental health were concentrated in recent years. Global and local citations identified different documents. DISCUSSION: The literature is concentrated in one journal and four countries. Whether its dominant topics define the specialty or reflect uneven research infrastructure cannot be settled bibliometrically; the distribution shows where capacity is thinnest.