Systematic literature review on the state of the art and future research work in anonymous communications systems

Abstract Privacy is an important research topic due to its implications in society. Among the topics covered by privacy, we can highlight how to establish anonymous communications. During the latest years we have seen an important research in this field. In order to know what the state of the art in the research in anonymous communication systems (ACS) is, we have developed a systematic literature review (SLR). Namely, our SLR analyzes several issues: activity performed in the field, major research purposes, findings, what the most ACS study, the limitations of current research, how is leading the research in this field and the most highly-cited articles. Our SLR provides an analysis on 203 papers found in conferences and journals focused on anonymous communications systems between 2011 and 2016. Thus, our SLR provides an updated view on the status of the research in the field and the different future topics to be addressed.