TY  - JOUR
U1  - Wissenschaftlicher Artikel
A1  - Specht, Alexander
A1  - Herrmann, Marc
A1  - Elsofi, Duaa Adel Ali
A1  - Ehl, Marco
A1  - Großer, Katharina
A1  - Schüring, Ben Luca
A1  - Ahrens, Maike
A1  - Jürjens, Jan
A1  - Schneider, Kurt
T1  - Tracing Safety- and Security-Critical Artifacts and Where to Find Them
JF  - The Journal of Systems & Software
N2  - Context: Tracing is a core competence in requirements engineering. Particularly, in safety & security critical domains, tracing is often not only beneficial but even required by industry or government standards. In the tracing process, linked artifacts and the activities that process or create them are essential. To capture trace link candidates and provide recommendations to developers, it is necessary to identify which artifacts and activities exist and how they relate to one another. However, there is currently no comprehensive overview of safety & security-relevant artifacts and activities. 
Objectives: We aim to compile a collection of all relevant artifacts and activities that employ tracing in security- and safety-critical domains. We would also like to suggest potential trace-link candidates to facilitate tracing. 
Methods: In our approach, we conduct a literature review and examine the well-documented Corona Warn App as the subject of our investigation. 
Results: We examined n=259publications from safety & security-related traceability research for artifacts and activities. We identified and compiled 437 artifact types and 254 activities into a comprehensive data collection. Our findings include (1) the most frequently appearing artifacts and activities, (2) the most common co-appearing artifacts and activities, and (3) the most frequently appearing artifacts and activities related to specific domains such as military defense, aerospace, and software management and (4) an example how to use our collection on an example to the Corona Warn App. 
Conclusion: We discuss recommendations for developers, the importance of collaboration and communication in tracing processes, the identification of patterns in artifacts and activities during tracing, and the implications of our findings for industry settings, as well as directions for future work.
AB  - Context: Tracing is a core competence in requirements engineering. Particularly, in safety & security critical domains, tracing is often not only beneficial but even required by industry or government standards. In the tracing process, linked artifacts and the activities that process or create them are essential. To capture trace link candidates and provide recommendations to developers, it is necessary to identify which artifacts and activities exist and how they relate to one another. However, there is currently no comprehensive overview of safety & security-relevant artifacts and activities. 
Objectives: We aim to compile a collection of all relevant artifacts and activities that employ tracing in security- and safety-critical domains. We would also like to suggest potential trace-link candidates to facilitate tracing. 
Methods: In our approach, we conduct a literature review and examine the well-documented Corona Warn App as the subject of our investigation. 
Results: We examined n=259publications from safety & security-related traceability research for artifacts and activities. We identified and compiled 437 artifact types and 254 activities into a comprehensive data collection. Our findings include (1) the most frequently appearing artifacts and activities, (2) the most common co-appearing artifacts and activities, and (3) the most frequently appearing artifacts and activities related to specific domains such as military defense, aerospace, and software management and (4) an example how to use our collection on an example to the Corona Warn App. 
Conclusion: We discuss recommendations for developers, the importance of collaboration and communication in tracing processes, the identification of patterns in artifacts and activities during tracing, and the implications of our findings for industry settings, as well as directions for future work.
KW  - Requirements Engineering
KW  - Safety and Security
KW  - Tracing
KW  - Artifacts
KW  - Safety–security assurance
KW  - Literature-derived dataset
Y1  - 2026
SN  - 0164-1212
SS  - 0164-1212
UN  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hbz:kob7-27017
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jss.2026.112968
DO  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jss.2026.112968
VL  - 241
AR  - 112968
S2  - 112968
SP  - 17
PB  - Elsevier
ER  -