Citation Cliques in Low Impact Journals
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arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2026
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| _version_ | 1866911673920520192 |
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| author | Spanakis, Panagiotis-Alexios Alexandrou, Grigorios Spinellis, Diomidis |
| author_facet | Spanakis, Panagiotis-Alexios Alexandrou, Grigorios Spinellis, Diomidis |
| contents | This exploratory study examines how low-impact journals, defined through subject-normalized Eigenfactor percentiles, are associated with denser and more reciprocating patterns of author-to-author citations. Using Crossref records, we assign journals to broad subject areas, compute subject-specific Eigenfactor scores, propagate venue quality to works and authors, match authors in low- (Case) versus high-influence (Control) venues by subject and h5, and analyze citation edges for cohesion and anomalies. Across a 10% sample of 9,431 matched pairs, authors in low-impact venues exhibit significantly higher cohesion: 6.7x higher co-author citation rates and 4.7x higher reciprocity in the aggregate Case-Control comparison. A subject-aware hybrid detection pipeline flags 277 outliers with 93.5% Case purity; these outliers display an 11x clique-strength lift relative to non-outliers, revealing a stark "Two Worlds" segregation (r = 0.71) where low-impact venues operate as closed citation economies. The largest detected component (n = 23) displays a hub-and-spoke topology in which peripheral "Sycophants" funnel citations to central "Beneficiaries" through coordinated bursts, confirming a directed flow imbalance rather than reciprocal exchange among equals. Overall, cohesion, rather than broad asymmetry, accounts for the main Case-Control differences, suggesting that low-impact venues foster segregated, inward-looking citation economies that distort bibliometric indicators. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_11930 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Citation Cliques in Low Impact Journals Spanakis, Panagiotis-Alexios Alexandrou, Grigorios Spinellis, Diomidis Digital Libraries Social and Information Networks This exploratory study examines how low-impact journals, defined through subject-normalized Eigenfactor percentiles, are associated with denser and more reciprocating patterns of author-to-author citations. Using Crossref records, we assign journals to broad subject areas, compute subject-specific Eigenfactor scores, propagate venue quality to works and authors, match authors in low- (Case) versus high-influence (Control) venues by subject and h5, and analyze citation edges for cohesion and anomalies. Across a 10% sample of 9,431 matched pairs, authors in low-impact venues exhibit significantly higher cohesion: 6.7x higher co-author citation rates and 4.7x higher reciprocity in the aggregate Case-Control comparison. A subject-aware hybrid detection pipeline flags 277 outliers with 93.5% Case purity; these outliers display an 11x clique-strength lift relative to non-outliers, revealing a stark "Two Worlds" segregation (r = 0.71) where low-impact venues operate as closed citation economies. The largest detected component (n = 23) displays a hub-and-spoke topology in which peripheral "Sycophants" funnel citations to central "Beneficiaries" through coordinated bursts, confirming a directed flow imbalance rather than reciprocal exchange among equals. Overall, cohesion, rather than broad asymmetry, accounts for the main Case-Control differences, suggesting that low-impact venues foster segregated, inward-looking citation economies that distort bibliometric indicators. |
| title | Citation Cliques in Low Impact Journals |
| topic | Digital Libraries Social and Information Networks |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.11930 |