Understanding belief using citation networks.

Citation is a powerful method for establishing belief. Published statements gain credibility when followed by citations. Citation in its purest form consists of the scholarly connection of authors' ideas and claims to existing literature, yet there are also non-scholarly uses of citation that are best called citation distortions. Unfounded biomedical belief systems arising from citation distortions may become widely accepted as fact. The development of methodology for the study of citation distortions and belief systems regarding scientific claims was recently described. Here, I discuss further the methodological approaches to studying published scientific belief systems and identifying citation distortions.