# The many facets of community detection in complex networks

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1611.07769 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1611.07769/

## Key facts

- Cited by 8 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 23 Nov 2016.

## Built on by (most cited first, 8 of 8)

- [Bayan Algorithm: Detecting Communities in Networks Through Exact and Approximate Optimization of Modularity](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.04562/) (2022)
- [Analyzing Modularity Maximization in Approximation, Heuristic, and Graph Neural Network Algorithms for Community Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.10898/) (2023)
- [Descriptive vs. inferential community detection in networks: pitfalls, myths, and half-truths](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.00183/) (2021)
- [Implicit models, latent compression, intrinsic biases, and cheap lunches in community detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.09186/) (2022)
- [Analysing Multiscale Clusterings with Persistent Homology](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.04281/) (2023)
- [Modularity maximisation for graphons](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2101.00503/) (2021)
- [LGDE: Local Graph-based Dictionary Expansion](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.07764/) (2024)
- [Robust Markov stability for community detection at a scale learned based on the structure](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.11621/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Community detection, the decomposition of a graph into essential building blocks, has been a core research topic in network science over the past years. Since a precise notion of what constitutes a community has remained evasive, community detection algorithms have often been compared on benchmark graphs with a particular form of assortative community structure and classified based on the mathematical techniques they employ. However, this comparison can be misleading because apparent similarities in their mathematical machinery can disguise different goals and reasons for why we want to employ community detection in the first place. Here we provide a focused review of these different motivations that underpin community detection. This problem-driven classification is useful in applied network science, where it is important to select an appropriate algorithm for the given purpose. Moreover, highlighting the different facets of community detection also delineates the many lines of research and points out open directions and avenues for future research.