A few notes on main path analysis

The last few years have seen a growing interest in main path analysis among scholars across a wide spectrum of disciplines. Hummon and Doreian first introduced this method, and it has since become an effective technique for mapping technological trajectories, exploring scientific knowledge flows, and conducting literature reviews. Nevertheless, there are issues not broadly discussed in applying the method, including the handling of citation data, choosing a proper traversal weight scheme, search options, and interpretation of the resulting paths. This note aims to deepen the discussions and concludes with several suggestions and strategies in applying main path analysis.