document co-citation analysis

Document co-citation analysis is a method used to understand how ideas or research papers are related by examining how often two documents are cited together in later works. When two papers are frequently referenced together, it suggests they share a common topic or are influential within a specific area. By analyzing these patterns across many documents, researchers can identify key themes, clusters of related work, and the development of ideas over time, providing insights into the structure and evolution of a research field.