Case study to approaches to finding patterns in citation networks

TL;DR

This paper explores methods for analyzing citation networks, specifically LED patents, to uncover relationships between metadata and network structure, combining citation analysis with metadata insights.

Contribution

It introduces a combined approach of citation analysis and metadata integration to better understand patent citation networks.

Findings

Central patents are produced by larger companies.

Network structure reveals patterns related to patent metadata.

Combining metadata with citation analysis yields new insights.

Abstract

Analysis of a dataset including a network of LED patents and their metadata is carried out using several methods in order to answer questions about the domain. We are interested in finding the relationship between the metadata and the network structure; for example, are central patents in the network produced by larger or smaller companies? We begin by exploring the structure of the network without any metadata, applying known techniques in citation analysis and a simple clustering scheme. These techinques are then combined with metadata analysis to draw preliminary conclusions about the dataset.