Trace Citation Neighborhood

---
name: trace-citation-neighborhood
description: "Expand an evidence set through backward/forward citation chaining and terminate using explicit relevance/saturation criteria, independent of the retrieval tool used."
---

# trace-citation-neighborhood

## Purpose

Expand an evidence set through backward and forward citation chaining, then stop using explicit relevance and saturation criteria.

## Input contract

```yaml
required: [seed_sources, citation_edges, relevance_rules]
optional: [backward_depth, forward_depth, source_quality, criticality_schema]
constraints: [citation direction, source identity, independence, and stopping evidence must be retained]
```

## Procedure

1. Select seeds and declare the eligible citation neighborhood and relevance rules.
2. Trace backward and forward links, deduplicating lineage and dependent versions.
3. Prioritize high-information and critical nodes for full evidence review.
4. Compare each batch's new independent evidence and stop when marginal gain meets the declared saturation rationale.

If the citation neighborhood is broad enough to contain many weak or irrelevant records, consider `screen-evidence-multistage` as the next tactic.

## Output contract

```yaml
produces: [citation_neighborhood, lineage_edges, critical_node_set, independent_evidence_rate, saturation_assessment]
delta_fields: [findings, evidence_updates, uncertainties, decisions, open_questions, recommended_jumps]
```

## Quality gates

- Backward and forward coverage are reported separately.
- High-information/critical-node coverage uses a declared universe and relative numerator.
- Each batch records increment, stopping reason, source references, direction, threshold, and rationale.

## Failure and counterexamples

Do not treat citation presence as evidence relevance or count versions of one study as independent evidence.

## Provenance map

- `concept: knowledge-acquisition/snowball-survey`
- `resolved: citation-chaining`