Relational hyperevent models for the coevolution of coauthoring and citation networks

The interest in network analysis of bibliographic data has grown substantially in recent years, yet comprehensive statistical models for examining the complete dynamics of scientific networks based on bibliographic data are generally lacking. Current empirical studies often focus on models restricting analysis either to paper citation networks (paper-by-paper) or author networks (author-by-author). However, such networks encompass not only direct connections between papers, but also indirect relationships between the references of papers connected by a citation link. In this paper, we extend recently developed relational hyperevent models (RHEM) for analyzing scientific networks. We introduce new covariates representing theoretically meaningful and empirically interesting sub-network configurations. The model accommodates testing hypotheses considering: (i) the polyadic nature of scientific publication events, and (ii) the interdependencies between authors and references of current and prior papers. We implement the model using purpose-built, publicly available open-source software, demonstrating its empirical value in an analysis of a large publicly available scientific network dataset. Assessing the relative strength of various effects reveals that both the hyperedge structure of publication events, as well as the interconnection between authors and references significantly improve our understanding and interpretation of collaborative scientific production.