The increasing dominance of repeated citations from collaborative research groups in science

Abstract

Co-authorship has become more common, yet most studies focus on paper-to-paper citation patterns, overlooking the role of group collaborations. Our study explores how research group structures influence citation patterns, using a Co-Authorship Citation Network (CACN) based on the SciSciNet dataset, which includes 134 million publications and over 1.5 billion citation links. As time progresses, repeated citations within groups become more pronounced, with a 30% higher rate of repeated citations in 2000 compared to 1950. Disruptive papers are cited repeatedly by fewer groups, while impactful papers attract citations from more groups. Additionally, fields like Physics and Geology show higher rates of repeated citations, while Political Science and Sociology exhibit broader citation behaviors. This research enables researchers, institutions, and publishers to better understand group citation behaviors and improve knowledge dissemination across disciplines.