| name | citation-chaining |
| description | Forward and backward citation tracing tactic — expand paper coverage by tracing citation networks in both directions from seed/key papers. Alternates forward (who cited this) and backward (what this cited) passes until saturation. |
| execution | tactic |
| used-by | systematic-survey, snowball |
Citation Chaining
Expand paper coverage by tracing citation networks in both directions.
Operations
- Backward chaining: ss_references — what does this paper cite?
- Forward chaining: ss_citations — what cites this paper?
Available SOPs
paper-overview (import) — quick scan of discovered papers
paper-search (import) — AI summary of promising papers
paper-research (import) — deep reading of key papers
saturation-detection (subagent) — determine when to stop
Execution Guidance
- Start from seed/key papers
- Alternate forward and backward passes
- After each pass: filter by relevance, add to reading queue
- Use saturation-detection to stop when new papers aren't adding information
- Track the chain: paper A → cites B → cites C (provenance)
- Deduplicate across passes — same paper may appear in multiple chains