Socio-cognitive Networks between Researchers: Investigating Scientific Dualities with the Group-Oriented Relational Hyperevent Model

TL;DR

This paper explores how coauthorship networks influence citation patterns among researchers, revealing that authors prefer recent, cognitively connected works and that closely collaborating groups tend to be co-cited more often.

Contribution

It introduces the Group-Oriented Relational Hyperevent Model to jointly analyze coauthorship and citation networks, highlighting the interplay between social and cognitive factors in scientific citation behavior.

Findings

Authors cite recent, cognitively continuous works.

Closely connected coauthor groups are co-cited more frequently.

Citation patterns are influenced by coauthorship network structure.

Abstract

Understanding why researchers cite certain works remains a key question in the study of scientific networks. Prior research has identified factors such as relevance, group cohesion, and source crediting. However, the interplay between cognitive and social dimensions in citation behavior - often conceptualized as a socio-cognitive network - is frequently overlooked, particularly regarding the intermediary steps that lead to a citation. Since a citation first requires a work to be published by a set of authors, we examine how the structure of coauthorship networks influences citation patterns. To investigate this relationship, we analyze the citation and collaboration behavior of Chilean astronomers from 2013 to 2015 using the Group-Oriented Relational Hyperevent Model, which allows us to study coauthorship and citation networks in a joint framework. Our findings suggest that when selecting which works to cite, authors favor recent research and maintain cognitive continuity across cited works. At the same time, we observe that coherent groups - closely connected coauthors - tend to be co-cited more frequently in subsequent publications, reinforcing the interdependence of collaboration and citation networks.