Main path analysis: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 05:55, 18 August 2017

Revision as of 03:34, 19 August 2017

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[[File:Global key-route main paths SPC.png|thumb|'''Main paths analysis uncovers the most significant paths, or citation chains, in a citation network.'''

'''The figure shows the global key-route main paths for a sample citation network (based on search path count and at key-route 1).'''

]]

Main path analysis was first proposed by Hummon and Doreian<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Hummon|first=Norman P.|last2=Doreian|first2=Patrick|date=|title=Connectivity in a citation network: The development of DNA theory|url=https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-8733(89)90017-8|journal=Social Networks|volume=11|issue=1|pages=39–63|doi=10.1016/0378-8733(89)90017-8|via=}}</ref>. It is a mathematical tool to identify the major paths in a [[citation network]], which is one form of a [[directed acyclic graph]] (DAG). The method begins by measuring the significance of all the links in a citation network through the concept of ‘traversal count’ and then sequentially chains the most significant links into a "main path", which is deemed the most significant historical path in the target [[citation network]]. The method is applicable to any human activity that can be organized in the form of a [[citation network]]. The method is commonly applied to trace the knowledge flow paths or development trajectories of a science or technology field, through bibliographic citations or patent citations<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Liu|first=John S.|last2=Lu|first2=Louis Y.Y.|last3=Lu|first3=Wen-Min|last4=Lin|first4=Bruce J.Y.|title=Data envelopment analysis 1978–2010: A citation-based literature survey|url=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.omega.2010.12.006|journal=Omega|volume=41|issue=1|pages=3–15|doi=10.1016/j.omega.2010.12.006}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Verspagen|first=Bart|date=2007-03-01|title=Mapping technological trajectories as patent citation networks: a study on the history of fuel cell research|url=http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S0219525907000945|journal=Advances in Complex Systems|volume=10|issue=01|pages=93–115|doi=10.1142/S0219525907000945|issn=0219-5259}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last=Lucio-Arias|first=Diana|last2=Leydesdorff|first2=Loet|date=2008-10-01|title=Main-path analysis and path-dependent transitions in HistCite™-based historiograms|url=http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/asi.20903/abstract|journal=Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology|language=en|volume=59|issue=12|pages=1948–1962|doi=10.1002/asi.20903|issn=1532-2890}}</ref>. It has also been applied to judicial decisions to trace the evolving changes of legal opinions<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|last=Liu|first=John S.|last2=Chen|first2=Hsiao-Hui|last3=Ho|first3=Mei Hsiu-Ching|last4=Li|first4=Yu-Chen|date=2014-12-01|title=Citations with different levels of relevancy: Tracing the main paths of legal opinions|url=http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/asi.23135/abstract|journal=Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology|language=en|volume=65|issue=12|pages=2479–2488|doi=10.1002/asi.23135|issn=2330-1643}}</ref>.

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==== Key-route search ====

Key-route search is designed to avoid the problem of missing significant links in both the local and global search. The problem is in the local and global main paths shown above, in which one of most important link (H,K) is not included in the main paths. As described in Liu and Lu (2012)<ref name=":1" />, the approach searches main paths from the specified links (key-routes) thus guarantees the inclusion of the links. One can also specify multiple links to obtain multiple main paths. An additional advantage of the key-route approach is that one is able to control the detail of the main paths by varying the number of key-routes. The larger the number of key-route is specified, the more detail is reveals. When the number of key-route increases to a certain point the search returns thereturnsthe whole citation network. Figure 6 and 7 show the local key-route and global key-route main paths of the sample citation network. In both main paths the number of key-route is set to 1, i.e., doing the search base on only the top links. Since there are two top links (B,D) and (H,K), the resulting main paths include both of them.

== The Variants ==

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=== Judicial document ===

In the common law system, a court decision document usually references previously published opinions for the purpose of justifying the current decision. These judicial references, or legal citations, can also be used to construct citation networks and then tracing the changes of legal opinions. Research opportunity in this area is wide open. Liu et al. (2014)<ref name=":4" /> conducted an exploratory study on such type of application.

== Software Implementation ==

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== External links ==

[http://mrvar.fdv.uni-lj.si/pajek/ Pajek], a free social network analysis software.

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