# Generalized communities in networks

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1505.07478 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1505.07478/

## Key facts

- Cited by 4 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 27 May 2015.

## Built on by (most cited first, 4 of 4)

- [20 years of network community detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.00111/) (2022)
- [Modularity maximisation for graphons](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2101.00503/) (2021)
- [A Generative Node-attribute Network Model for Detecting Generalized Structure](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.02878/) (2021)
- [Model inference for ranking from pairwise comparisons](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.15269/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

A substantial volume of research has been devoted to studies of community structure in networks, but communities are not the only possible form of large-scale network structure. Here we describe a broad extension of community structure that encompasses traditional communities but includes a wide range of generalized structural patterns as well. We describe a principled method for detecting this generalized structure in empirical network data and demonstrate with real-world examples how it can be used to learn new things about the shape and meaning of networks.