Traversing Citation Networks
Smart backward and forward citation following via Semantic Scholar, with relevance filtering and deduplication
Profile →npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills --skill traversing-citations --agent claude-code
Same command for any agent — swap --agent for codex, cursor, copilot.
Weekly change comes from our own snapshots, not the repository page — it measures attention, not adoption.
<!-- ╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ 本文件为开源 Skill 原始文档，收录仅供学习与研究参考 ║ ║ CoPaper.AI 收集整理 | https://copaper.ai ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ 来源仓库: https://github.com/kthorn/research-superpower 项目名称: research-superpower 开源协议: MIT License 收录日期: 2026-04-02 声明: 本文件版权归原作者所有。此处收录旨在为社会科学实证研究者 提供 AI Agent Skills 的集中参考。如有侵权，请联系删除。 --> # Traversing Citation Networks ## Overview Intelligently follow citations backward (references) and forward (citing papers) using Semantic Scholar API. **Core principle:** Only follow citations relevant to user's query. Avoid exponential explosion by filtering before traversing. ## When to Use Use this skill when: - Found a highly relevant paper (score ≥ 7) - Need to find related work - User asks "what papers cite this?" - Building comprehensive understanding of a topic **When NOT to use:** - Paper scored < 7 (not relevant enough to follow) - Already at 50 papers (check with user first) - Citations look off-topic from abstract ## Citation Traversal Strategy ### 1. Get Paper ID from Semantic Scholar **Lookup by DOI:** ```bash curl "https://api.semanticscholar.org/graph/v1/paper/DOI:10.1234/exa
- Overview
- When to Use
- Citation Traversal Strategy
- 1. Get Paper ID from Semantic Scholar
- 2. Backward Traversal (References)
- 3. Forward Traversal (Citations)
- 4. Deduplication
- 5. Process Queue
- Smart Traversal Limits
- Progress Reporting
- API Rate Limiting
- Integration with Other Skills
- Quick Reference
- Relevance Filtering Checklist
curl "https://api.semanticscholar.org/graph/v1/paper/DOI:10.1234/example.2023?fields=paperId,title,year" curl "https://api.semanticscholar.org/graph/v1/paper/abc123def456/references?fields=contexts,intents,title,year,abstract,externalIds&limit=100" curl "https://api.semanticscholar.org/graph/v1/paper/abc123def456/citations?fields=title,year,abstract,externalIds&limit=100"
What does the Traversing Citation Networks skill do?
Smart backward and forward citation following via Semantic Scholar, with relevance filtering and deduplication
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills --skill traversing-citations --agent claude-code` — it drops the skill into your project so the agent can pick it up. Swap the --agent value for codex, cursor or copilot if you use one of those.
Where does this skill come from?
From brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills, a repository with 3,244 stars. We read it straight from the repository tree rather than a submitted listing, so what you see here is what is actually published.
Is a popular skill a good skill?
Not necessarily. Stars measure attention, not adoption — a repository can trend for a week and be abandoned. That is why we show the weekly change from our own snapshots next to the total, instead of a single flattering number.