Requirements traceability enables software engineers to trace a requirement from its emergence to its ful¯llment. In this paper we examine requirements traceability de¯nitions, challenges, tools and techniques, by the use of a systematic review performing an exhaustive search through the years 1997À2007. We present a number of common de¯nitions, challenges, available tools and techniques (presenting empirical evidence when found), while complementing the results and analysis with a static validation in industry through a series of interviews.