Simplifying Node Classification on Heterophilous Graphs with Compatible Label Propagation
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Abstract (arXiv)
Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) have been predominant for graph learning tasks; however, recent studies showed that a well-known graph algorithm, Label Propagation (LP), combined with a shallow neural network can achieve comparable performance to GNNs in semi-supervised node classification on graphs with high homophily. In this paper, we show that this approach falls short on graphs with low homophily, where nodes often connect to the nodes of the opposite classes. To overcome this, we carefully design a combination of a base predictor with LP algorithm that enjoys a closed-form solution as well as convergence guarantees. Our algorithm first learns the class compatibility matrix and then aggregates label predictions using LP algorithm weighted by class compatibilities. On a wide variety of benchmarks, we show that our approach achieves the leading performance on graphs with various levels of homophily. Meanwhile, it has orders of magnitude fewer parameters and requires less execution time. Empirical evaluations demonstrate that simple adaptations of LP can be competitive in semi-supervised node classification in both homophily and heterophily regimes.
Key facts. Cited by 7 papers in the map (data through 7 Oct 2026). Builds on 34 of its 54 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 19 May 2022.
Builds on
34 of 54 references.
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22 more
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Built on by
Citing papers per year: 2022: 1; 2023: 1; 2024: 3; 2025: 2.
7 papers.
- 2024Harnessing Large Language Models as Post-hoc Correctorscited by 7
- 2024A Comprehensive Graph Pooling Benchmark: Effectiveness, Robustness and Generalizabilitycited by 6
- 2023Hetero2Net: Heterophily-aware Representation Learning on Heterogenerous Graphscited by 4
- 2022GLINKX: A Scalable Unified Framework For Homophilous and Heterophilous Graphscited by 0
- 2024Graph as a feature: improving node classification with non-neural graph-aware logistic regressioncited by 0
- 2025Learning from Heterophilic Graphs: A Spectral Theory Perspective on the Impact of Self-Loops and Parallel Edgescited by 0
- 2025ATLAS: Adaptive Topology-based Learning at Scale for Homophilic and Heterophilic Graphscited by 0
- 2025ATLAS: Adaptive Topology-based Learning at Scale for Homophilic and Heterophilic Graphs16 Dec 2025
- 2025Learning from Heterophilic Graphs: A Spectral Theory Perspective on the Impact of Self-Loops and Parallel Edges16 Sep 2025
- 2024Graph as a feature: improving node classification with non-neural graph-aware logistic regression19 Nov 2024
- 2024A Comprehensive Graph Pooling Benchmark: Effectiveness, Robustness and Generalizability13 Jun 2024
- 2024Harnessing Large Language Models as Post-hoc Correctors20 Feb 2024
- 2023Hetero2Net: Heterophily-aware Representation Learning on Heterogenerous Graphs18 Oct 2023
- 2022GLINKX: A Scalable Unified Framework For Homophilous and Heterophilous Graphs1 Nov 2022