Credible Plan-Driven RAG Method for Multi-Hop Question Answering

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Zhang, Ningning, Zhang, Chi, Tan, Zhizhong, Yang, Xingxing, Deng, Weiping, Wang, Wenyong
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Zhang, Ningning
Zhang, Chi
Tan, Zhizhong
Yang, Xingxing
Deng, Weiping
Wang, Wenyong
author_facet Zhang, Ningning
Zhang, Chi
Tan, Zhizhong
Yang, Xingxing
Deng, Weiping
Wang, Wenyong
contents Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) has demonstrated strong performance in single-hop question answering (QA) by integrating external knowledge into large language models (LLMs). However, its effectiveness remains limited in multi-hop QA, which demands both stable reasoning and factual consistency. Existing approaches often provide partial solutions, addressing either reasoning trajectory stability or factual verification, but rarely achieving both simultaneously. To bridge this gap, we propose PAR-RAG, a three-stage Plan-then-Act-and-Review framework inspired by the PDCA cycle. PAR-RAG incorporates semantic complexity as a unifying principle through three key components: (i) complexity-aware exemplar selection guides plan generation by aligning decomposition granularity with question difficulty, thereby stabilizing reasoning trajectories; (ii) execution follows a structured retrieve-then-read process; and (iii) dual verification identifies and corrects intermediate errors while dynamically adjusting verification strength based on question complexity: emphasizing accuracy for simple queries and multi-evidence consistency for complex ones. This cognitively inspired framework integrates theoretical grounding with practical robustness. Experiments across diverse benchmarks demonstrate that PAR-RAG consistently outperforms competitive baselines, while ablation studies confirm the complementary roles of complexity-aware planning and dual verification. Collectively, these results establish PAR-RAG as a robust and generalizable framework for reliable multi-hop reasoning.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_16787
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Credible Plan-Driven RAG Method for Multi-Hop Question Answering
Zhang, Ningning
Zhang, Chi
Tan, Zhizhong
Yang, Xingxing
Deng, Weiping
Wang, Wenyong
Computation and Language
Artificial Intelligence
Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) has demonstrated strong performance in single-hop question answering (QA) by integrating external knowledge into large language models (LLMs). However, its effectiveness remains limited in multi-hop QA, which demands both stable reasoning and factual consistency. Existing approaches often provide partial solutions, addressing either reasoning trajectory stability or factual verification, but rarely achieving both simultaneously. To bridge this gap, we propose PAR-RAG, a three-stage Plan-then-Act-and-Review framework inspired by the PDCA cycle. PAR-RAG incorporates semantic complexity as a unifying principle through three key components: (i) complexity-aware exemplar selection guides plan generation by aligning decomposition granularity with question difficulty, thereby stabilizing reasoning trajectories; (ii) execution follows a structured retrieve-then-read process; and (iii) dual verification identifies and corrects intermediate errors while dynamically adjusting verification strength based on question complexity: emphasizing accuracy for simple queries and multi-evidence consistency for complex ones. This cognitively inspired framework integrates theoretical grounding with practical robustness. Experiments across diverse benchmarks demonstrate that PAR-RAG consistently outperforms competitive baselines, while ablation studies confirm the complementary roles of complexity-aware planning and dual verification. Collectively, these results establish PAR-RAG as a robust and generalizable framework for reliable multi-hop reasoning.
title Credible Plan-Driven RAG Method for Multi-Hop Question Answering
topic Computation and Language
Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.16787