A citation chain shows the relationship between a specific article and the research that cites, or is cited by that article. Research doesn't take place in a vacuum - researchers build on and expand on previous knowledge. This knowledge is interconnected through a citation chain like the one shown below:

Citation chaining (also referred to as bibliographic mining) is a method by which you trace an idea or topic both forward and backward in time either by sources that have cited a particular work or through the references that a particular work has cited. This idea of linking one source to another, which then links to another, creates a chain of related sources or citations.

Citation chaining allows you to identify key authors, publications, and journals in your area of study, and understand how researchers are building on and sometimes challenging each others work. It provides insight into the scholarly conversation surrounding your research topic.

Backward Chaining

Backward chaining involves looking at the references of a work to find other material that covers similar topics.

Once you find an article or book relevant to your research topic, the references or works cited section will give you the citation information the author(s) used to develop their own ideas. This is a great way to find other sources that relate to your topic.

Resources cited in your article

• will be older than the article.
• will help you identify past resources on the same topic (such as theories or classic articles).

Forward Chaining

Forward chaining, also referred to as cited reference searching, involves researching the sources that have cited a particular work to find more recent material covering similar topics.

Resources that cite your article

• will be newer than the article you've already found.
• will help you identify more recent, relevant research.

Be aware: Exclusively using citation chaining to locate resources can be limiting and can keep you from discovering other valuable research.

Also, be aware that not all citations are created equal. By simply looking at a bibliography you will not be able to tell which articles will be relevant to you. You will need to think critically about the resources in your chain, and judge whether they are useful to you.

To find citations in the forward or backward chain of an article result in Dragon OneSearch, look for the red arrows on the results page. Clicking on either arrow will open up a list of the citations.

Records that have a citation trail will have a symbol indicating:  

Items cited in this record   

Items that cite this record 

Using Citation Trails (Ex Libris Knowledge Center)