Exploring challenges of (semi-)automated requirements traceability: A systematic literature review

<b>Context:</b> Over the last three decades, researchers have attempted to shed light into the requirements traceability problem by introducing tracing tools, techniques, and methods with the vision of achieving ubiquitous traceability. However, despite the technological advances, previous studies have reported low adoption rate of (semi-)automated requirements traceability in industry. <b>Objective:</b> We aim to identify and explore the main challenges in implementing (semi-)automated requirements traceability, as reported by literature. <b>Method:</b> We carried out a systematic literature review based on the guidelines for systematic literature reviews in software engineering, proposed by Kitchenham. We retrieved 4530 studies by searching five major bibliographic databases and selected 70 primary studies. These studies were analyzed and classified according to the challenges they present and/or address with respect to (semi-)automated requirements traceability. <b>Results:</b> We identified 21 challenges of (semi-)automated requirements traceability and organized them into five categories which serve as conceptual guidelines. Findings reveal that the most frequently presented and/or addressed challenges are technological challenges, in particular low accuracy of traceability recovery methods. Findings also indicate that further research is needed, especially through case studies or surveys, to explore traceability practices in industrial settings. Furthermore, we recommend researchers to leverage the human facet of tracing, distributed traceability and traceability approaches to support agile and DevOps practices. <b>Conclusions:</b> The implementation of(semi-)automated requirements traceability faces multifaceted challenges. The identification of these challenges and the formulation of conceptual guidelines contributes to the existing body of knowledge, in two directions: firstly, by providing researchers with directions for future research, and secondly by supporting organizations that are planning a transition from manual or no requirements traceability to (semi-)automatic requirements traceability.