# Graph Your Way to Inspiration: Integrating Co-Author Graphs with Retrieval-Augmented Generation for Large Language Model Based Scientific Idea Generation

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.22215 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.22215/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Placed in Knowledge-graph and structured-knowledge RAG, one of 15 directions in Retrieval-augmented generation.
- Builds on 12 of its 49 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 5 Dec 2025.

## Placed in

- Retrieval-augmented generation / [Knowledge-graph and structured-knowledge RAG](https://mlsanity.com/rag/knowledge-graph-and-structured-knowledge-rag/)

## Builds on (most cited first, 12 of 12)

- [From Local to Global: A Graph RAG Approach to Query-Focused Summarization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.16130/) (2024)
- [The AI Scientist: Towards Fully Automated Open-Ended Scientific Discovery](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.06292/) (2024)
- [GSM-Symbolic: Understanding the Limitations of Mathematical Reasoning in Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.05229/) (2024)
- [Towards Reasoning Era: A Survey of Long Chain-of-Thought for Reasoning Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.09567/) (2025)
- [ResearchAgent: Iterative Research Idea Generation over Scientific Literature with Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.07738/) (2024)
- [Retrieval-Augmented Generation with Graphs (GraphRAG)](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.00309/) (2024)
- [SciEval: A Multi-Level Large Language Model Evaluation Benchmark for Scientific Research](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.13149/) (2023)
- [Chain of Ideas: Revolutionizing Research Via Novel Idea Development with LLM Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.13185/) (2024)
- [Dense X Retrieval: What Retrieval Granularity Should We Use?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.06648/) (2023)
- [Self-rewarding correction for mathematical reasoning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.19613/) (2025)
- [AI Idea Bench 2025: AI Research Idea Generation Benchmark](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.14191/) (2025)
- [Synergizing RAG and Reasoning: A Systematic Review](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.15909/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Large Language Models (LLMs) demonstrate potential in the field of scientific idea generation. However, the generated results often lack controllable academic context and traceable inspiration pathways. To bridge this gap, this paper proposes a scientific idea generation system called GYWI, which combines author knowledge graphs with retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) to form an external knowledge base to provide controllable context and trace of inspiration path for LLMs to generate new scientific ideas. We first propose an author-centered knowledge graph construction method and inspiration source sampling algorithms to construct external knowledge base. Then, we propose a hybrid retrieval mechanism that is composed of both RAG and GraphRAG to retrieve content with both depth and breadth knowledge. It forms a hybrid context. Thirdly, we propose a Prompt optimization strategy incorporating reinforcement learning principles to automatically guide LLMs optimizing the results based on the hybrid context. To evaluate the proposed approaches, we constructed an evaluation dataset based on arXiv (2018-2023). This paper also develops a comprehensive evaluation method including empirical automatic assessment in multiple-choice question task, LLM-based scoring, human evaluation, and semantic space visualization analysis. The generated ideas are evaluated from the following five dimensions: novelty, feasibility, clarity, relevance, and significance. We conducted experiments on different LLMs including GPT-4o, DeepSeek-V3, Qwen3-8B, and Gemini 2.5. Experimental results show that GYWI significantly outperforms mainstream LLMs in multiple metrics such as novelty, reliability, and relevance.