RESEARCH PAPERS

Research on the Mechanism of Obliteration by Incorporation from a Semantic Evolution Perspective: A Case Study in Physics

  • Wang Yufan ,
  • Shi Xiang ,
  • Huang Shengzhi ,
  • Cheng Qikai ,
  • Huang Yong ,
  • Lu Wei
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  • 1 School of Information Management, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072;
    2 Institute of Intelligence and Innovation Governance, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072
Wang Yufan, Master’s Candidate; Shi Xiang, Doctoral Candidate; Huang Shengzhi, Postdoctoral; Cheng Qikai, Associate Professor, PhD, Corresponding Author, E-mail: chengqikai@whu.edu.cn; Huang Yong, Associate Professor, PhD; Lu Wei, Professor, PhD.

Received date: 2025-03-27

  Revised date: 2025-08-26

  Online published: 2026-06-09

Supported by

This work is supported by the General Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China titled “Identification of Argumentation Logic in Scientific Proposition Texts Based on Machine Reading Comprehension” (Grant No. 72174157) and the Open Fund of the Intelligence Engineering Laboratory, Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China.

Abstract

[Purpose/Significance] Obliteration by incorporation (OBI) refers to the phenomenon where methods, theories, and other forms of knowledge cease to be explicitly cited after becoming widely accepted as common knowledge. This process results in an underestimation of the academic influence of such knowledge, posing challenges to the accuracy and validity of academic evaluation. Therefore, in-depth research on this phenomenon and its underlying mechanisms is important to enhance academic assessment frameworks. [Method/Process] Utilizing the arXiv repository as the data source, this study measures the extent of OBI in physics by analyzing the trends of explicit citations, implicit citations, and citation rates. It then calculates semantic evolution indicators of knowledge phrases from multiple dimensions. A multiple regression analysis is applied to explore the associations between semantic evolution and OBI. [Result/Conclusion] The findings reveal a temporal delay between the peaks of explicit and implicit citations. The reduction of semantic variation, coupled with the enrichment of application contexts, facilitates the transition of knowledge phrases into common knowledge, leading to an increased degree of OBI. This study explains the mechanism underlying OBI from the perspective of semantic evolution, thereby contributing to a deeper understanding of OBI and offering valuable insights for refining citation-based academic evaluation systems.

Cite this article

Wang Yufan , Shi Xiang , Huang Shengzhi , Cheng Qikai , Huang Yong , Lu Wei . Research on the Mechanism of Obliteration by Incorporation from a Semantic Evolution Perspective: A Case Study in Physics[J]. Library and Information Service, 2026 , 70(12) : 55 -66 . DOI: 10.13266/j.issn.0252-3116.2026.12.005

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