Citation mapping / network map of Zotero library

ilc168
edited August 28, 2020
For those interested in creating a cross-citation map based of your Zotero library - there's a useful program here developed by jaks6:

https://github.com/jaks6/citation_map

It outputs 2 csv files of nodes and edges needed to then build the figure in Gephi. See image via the link about for what the Gephi output is.

It doesn't require the 'related' function in Zotero. Instead it mines your references for cross citations to produce a network map of references in you library, it shows which papers reference each other and how often.

You will need to install/run in python 2.7, install pdfminer, and load open the outputs in Gephi (I haven't tried the outputs in VosViewer yet but that's next on the cards).

This was based on a r script which is also linked on the github page if you'd rather use R. I had been looking for something like this for a long time so very happy this has been pulled together.
  • Giack
    Hi! I'm a beginner with this stuff (and not much more expert with Zotero, I was using it some years ago but I had to leave most of it, 'cause at work we use a proprietary software used before I arrived), but I was actually looking for something like this!
    I was wondering: wouldn't be interesting to have like a "tree structure" when clicking a button on Zotero showing the cites pattern for an article? I mean, e.g. I have a big library and suddently I find an article that I have imported but I don't actually remember for which purpose, it would be nice I think to have an automatically created window that shows me if this article is cited in other articles of my library or if these other articles cite the former. Would be possible to include this feature into Zotero? another e.g., like "OMG, look here at this article! yes, it comes from this other one, and this comes from this third, and this…", etc etc
    I hope to have explained myself :-D
    Bye!
  • ilc168
    Yes, I understand. I was looking for something similar for a *long* time. This was the closest I've found... this is more about visualisation rather than immediate tracing/linking of sources. If you find anything that does what you would like, please update the community.
  • diegodlh
    Hi, all! I'm submitting a proposal to develop a Zotero plugin that would add citations support using data from WikiData. Please see my comment here: https://forums.zotero.org/discussion/comment/365341/#Comment_365341
  • khenggel
    Hi, I'm so happy I stumbled upon this! I've been looking for this functionality for a looong time as well.
    Since it took me a while to get it working, as Ithe instructions on the tool's Github page are quite brief, I'll just share a few hints I wish I'd had:

    SETUP: Although I like coding, the entire deployment/run stuff was never my forte. Therefore, I like to use IDEs (like PyCharm in this case) where I can create Run Configurations.

    PROCESS:
    1) In Zotero, export the items of interest using the "Exprt Items..." in the context menu. Select "CSV" for Format, and "Western" for Character Encoding (important!).
    2) Run the python script (if you like me use a IDE, make sure to specify the right parameter in the Run Configuration).
    3) Import the nodes CSV into Gephi
    4) Import the edges CSV into Gephi (make sure to add it to the same environment!)

    Hope this helps.
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