ympyräviittausketjun

Ympyräviittausketju, often shortened to ympyräviittaus, refers to a situation in citation analysis where a set of documents or entities refer to each other in a cyclical manner. This means that document A cites document B, document B cites document C, and document C, in turn, cites document A, forming a closed loop. This phenomenon is not limited to academic papers but can also occur in other citation-based systems, such as legal citations or software dependencies.

The existence of ympyräviittausketju can have several implications. In academic research, it might indicate a self-referential loop within a particular subfield or a group of researchers. It can highlight the foundational nature of the cited works within that specific context, or it could suggest a lack of broader engagement with external literature. In some cases, it might be a sign of a closed community or a specific research paradigm. Analyzing the strength and extent of these loops can provide insights into the structure and dynamics of a knowledge domain. Identifying such chains can be achieved through computational analysis of citation networks. Depending on the context, ympyräviittaus can be a neutral observation, a point of concern, or even a strategic advantage for the cited entities.