Coordinated networks designed to artificially inflate the h-index.
A Citation Cartel (or Citation Ring) is a group of authors who agree to cite each other's work regardless of relevance. This "mutual admiration" creates a false signal of high impact, tricking university ranking systems and grant committees.
Traditional metrics see 100 citations as a success. ASAI looks at the Topology of those citations. If 80% of citations for Author A come from Author B and C (and vice versa), our K-Factor algorithm triggers a manual integrity flag.
When cartels dominate, real innovation is buried. Young, independent researchers who don't have "favors" to trade are disadvantaged, and the global scientific progress slows down because metrics no longer reflect merit.
Learn how we detect cartels