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Map a research field

By e2er authors

Map a research field: retrieve its papers from OpenAlex, compute the main path of its citation network (SPC weights, key routes), test it on alternative boundaries, and draw the field by year in lanes named as questions, with a reading list, network exports and a short field review.

In placeIn e2er 0.16.1bibliometricliterature review
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Input
A research field: its topic, and the journals it publishes in if you know them
Output
A map of the field by year in lanes named as questions, a reading list, network exports and a short field review
At the end
When any run ends, e2er builds the PDF, writes the audit trail and the structured export, and pushes to GitHub if you set that up.

Sources

Based on

Hron, M. (2026). Map a research field with Claude: main path analysis, step by step. LinkedIn Pulse, 8 October 2026.Taken from it: The six-step workflow: a boundary of search terms and journals, the internal citation network with completeness checks, SPC weights, the main path with key routes, robustness across alternative journal sets, and a map with topic lanes named as questions; and the pitfalls the article lists.e2er's own: The code (OpenAlex retrieval, network, SPC, main paths, key routes, cycle handling, robustness, exports, map), the template's steps and researcher stops, the specialists' instructions, and the field review whose numbers e2er checks.Read on 8 October 2026, shared by Björn Hanneke.

Related work

Michal Hron, scopus-plus-mcp (Scopus MCP server with a main-path skill), MIT licence. Hron's implementation on Scopus. Not used and not copied; e2er's implementation is independent and uses OpenAlex.

Methods

Norman P. Hummon and Patrick Doreian (1989). Connectivity in a citation network: The development of DNA theory. Social Networks 11(1), 39-63.

Vladimir Batagelj (2003). Efficient algorithms for citation network analysis. arXiv cs/0309023.

John S. Liu and Louis Y. Y. Lu (2012). An integrated approach for main path analysis: Development of the Hirsch index as an example. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 63(3), 528-542.

Steps

  1. 1
    Propose the field's boundary
    The boundary designer proposes search terms (with the topic's older names), a journal set, years, and 2 to 6 alternative boundaries (field_boundary.json).
    Boundary of the field
    specialists
  2. 2
    Retrieve the papers from OpenAlex
    Code retrieves every boundary from OpenAlex (paged, cached, with a request ceiling); runs at every start, so an edited boundary is retrieved again.
    check
  3. 3
    Boundary review
    The researcher approves or edits the boundaries, seeing the paper counts.
    your review
  4. 4
    Citation network and completeness check
    Code builds the network of citations inside the main boundary and reports what is missing; stops when too many papers have no internal link or no references.
    check
  5. 5
    Main path and key routes
    Code: SPC weights, the global and local main paths, key routes, the heaviest links.
    check
  6. 6
    Main paths of the alternative boundaries
    Code: the same on every alternative boundary; which papers are on every main path.
    check
  7. 7
    Propose lanes as questions
    The lane mapper groups the mapped papers into lanes named as questions, from titles and abstracts.
    Lanes of the field map
    specialists
  8. 8
    Lane review
    The researcher approves or edits the lanes.
    your review
  9. 9
    Map, reading list and exports
    Code: the map, reading list, Pajek/GEXF/VOSviewer/CSV exports, tables and field_map_results.json.
    check
  10. 10
    Field review draft
    The review writer drafts a short field review whose numbers come from field_map_results.json.
    Field review
    specialists
  11. 11
    Number check
    Every table value of the draft traced to the results.
    check
  12. 12
    Citation check
    Every citation in the bibliography and in an index.
    check
  13. 13
    Draft review
    The researcher reads the draft.
    your review
Technical details

Template id field-map · file pipelines/field-map.toml, checked against pipeline.schema.json.

StepId in the template fileSpecialists
1. Propose the field's boundarydesign_boundaryfield_boundary_designer
2. Retrieve the papers from OpenAlexretrieve_boundary
3. Boundary reviewreview_boundary
4. Citation network and completeness checkcitation_network
5. Main path and key routesmain_path
6. Main paths of the alternative boundariesrobustness
7. Propose lanes as questionspropose_lanesfield_lane_mapper
8. Lane reviewreview_lanes
9. Map, reading list and exportsdraw_map
10. Field review draftwrite_reviewfield_review_writer
11. Number checknumber_check
12. Citation checkcitation_check
13. Draft reviewreview_draft

At the end (finalize): compile, audit_export, github_push, structured_export. Modes: single_pass, iterative.

More

Description

Data model
Discipline
General
Method family
Literature review
Design
not specified
Research stage
Literature discoveryLiterature synthesisDrafting
Authors
e2er authors (Software, Methodology)
Usage
not used in published research yet
Source
e2er repository · pipelines/field-map.toml · @d8fd8ab
Record
template:field-map · JSON

Solid tags are declared by the source or mapped from its terms; dashed tags are inferred by a published rule. Hover a tag for its provenance.

Versions and evaluations

One version, unreleased

One version so far: pipelines/field-map.toml in e2er 0.16.1. No evaluation records exist yet.

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Cite this template
Persistent identifiers planned 
@software{e2erauthors2026e2ermaparesearchfieldtem,
  title   = {e2er map a research field template},
  author  = {e2er authors},
  year    = {2026},
  note    = {e2er template. Persistent identifier planned},
  url     = {https://e2er.org/templates/field-map}
}

Checks on this template

  • ✓Output contracts · Every step produced the artifact it declared, in the declared form
    Required of every template.
  • ✓Execution reliability · Analysis code ran and wrote a parseable, non-empty result
    Required of every template.
  • –Numbers · Every number in tables and text matches the output of executed code
    Not applicable. This method produces no computed numbers to match.
  • ○Citations · Every reference resolves to an existing publication via OpenAlex, Semantic Scholar or Crossref
    Proposed. Proposed for the floor; runs log it but may not block on it.
  • ○Verbatim passages · Every claim about a source points to a passage found word for word in that source
    Proposed. Proposed for the floor; runs log it but may not block on it.

Runs of this template

No runs yet.

Use it

Install e2er as described on the Install page, then start a run:

e2er run "<your research question>" --template field-map

From e2er 0.16.1. Get started goes from install to publish.

On e2er.org

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