# Where Do Your Citations Come From? Citation-Constellation: A Free, Open-Source, No-Code, and Auditable Tool for Citation Network Decomposition with Complementary BARON and HEROCON Scores

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.24216 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.24216/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 20 of its 89 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 25 Mar 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 20 of 20)

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- [Over-Optimization of Academic Publishing Metrics: Observing Goodhart's Law in Action](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1809.07841/) (2018)
- [The Diversity-Innovation Paradox in Science](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1909.02063/) (2019)
- [Using LLMs for the Extraction and Normalization of Product Attribute Values](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.02130/) (2024)
- [Incremental Knowledge Base Construction Using DeepDive](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1502.00731/) (2015)
- [OpenCitations, an infrastructure organization for open scholarship](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1906.11964/) (2019)
- [A review of the literature on citation impact indicators](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1507.02099/) (2015)
- [Construction of Knowledge Graphs: State and Challenges](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.11509/) (2023)
- [Google Scholar, Microsoft Academic, Scopus, Dimensions, Web of Science, and OpenCitations' COCI: a multidisciplinary comparison of coverage via citations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2004.14329/) (2020)
- [Large-scale comparison of bibliographic data sources: Scopus, Web of Science, Dimensions, Crossref, and Microsoft Academic](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2005.10732/) (2020)
- [What Do Citation Counts Measure? An Updated Review of Studies on Citations in Scientific Documents Published between 2006 and 2018](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1906.04588/) (2019)
- [Exploiting citation networks for large-scale author name disambiguation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1401.6157/) (2014)
- [The many faces of mobility: Using bibliometric data to measure the movement of scientists](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1803.03449/) (2018)
- [A review of the characteristics of 108 author-level bibliometric indicators](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1408.5700/) (2014)
- [The Time Dimension of Science: Connecting the Past to the Future](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1704.04657/) (2017)
- [Citation gaming induced by bibliometric evaluation: a country-level comparative analysis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1904.04708/) (2019)
- [Measuring Research Information Citizenship Across ORCID Practice](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2109.13640/) (2021)
- [Understanding discrepancies in the coverage of OpenAlex: the case of China](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.19302/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Standard citation metrics treat all citations as equal, obscuring the social and structural pathways through which scholarly influence propagates. I introduce Citation-Constellation, a freely available no-code tool for citation network analysis with two complementary bibliometric scores that decompose a researcher's citation profile by network proximity between citing and cited authors. BARON (Boundary-Anchored Research Outreach Network score) is a strict binary metric counting only citations from outside the detected collaborative network. HEROCON (Holistic Equilibrated Research Outreach CONstellation score) applies graduated weights assigning partial credit to in-group citations based on relationship proximity. The gap between scores serves as a diagnostic of inner-circle dependence. An extended abstract with full details appears in the paper. The tool implements this through a phased architecture: (1) self-citation analysis, (2) co-authorship graph traversal, (3) temporal institutional affiliation matching via ROR, and (4) AI-agent-driven venue governance extraction using a local LLM. Phases 1-3 are fully operational; Phase 4 is under development. Key design choices include ORCID-validated author identity resolution, an UNKNOWN classification for citations with insufficient metadata, and comprehensive audit trails documenting every classification decision. A no-code web interface enables researchers to compute scores without programming, installation, or registration. I present these scores as structural diagnostics, not quality indicators. BARON and HEROCON describe where in the social graph citations originate. They should not be used for hiring, promotion, or funding decisions. HEROCON weights are experimental and require empirical calibration.