Privacy Policy
CitationNet is a free tool for exploring citation networks. It does not ask who you are, shows no advertising, and does not sell or rent information about its visitors. This page explains what information is involved when you use it.
What you search for
To draw a network, CitationNet sends what you enter — a PubMed ID, an OpenAlex ID, a title or an author’s name — from our server to the OpenAlex database, and receives the matching papers back. The request comes from our server, so OpenAlex does not receive your IP address or anything about your browser.
A paper’s ID can also appear in the page address, for example citation-net.com/search/22745249, so it is recorded in our server logs like any other address.
Server logs
Like most websites, our web server records each request it receives: the address requested, the time, your IP address, your browser’s user-agent string and the page that linked to it. We use these records to keep the site running and secure, and we do not combine them with any other information.
Cookies
CitationNet’s own pages set no cookies, with one exception: the sign-in page sets a session cookie so that its form works. Google Analytics sets cookies of its own, described below.
Google Analytics
Most pages load Google Analytics, which tells us how many people visit and which pages they use. It sets cookies in your browser and sends Google your IP address, details about your browser and device, and the pages you view. Google processes this under its privacy policy.
You can stop Google Analytics from recording your visits to any site with Google’s opt-out browser add-on, or by blocking third-party scripts in your browser. CitationNet works the same either way.
Google Fonts
Pages use the Manrope typeface, which your browser loads from Google Fonts. Doing so sends Google your IP address and browser details. Google Fonts does not set cookies.
Downloads
Tables, reference files (RIS and BibTeX), graph files and images you download are built in your own browser from what is already on the page. Nothing is sent to us when you download them.
Donations and email
If you support CitationNet on Ko-fi, the payment takes place on Ko-fi’s site under Ko-fi’s own privacy policy. We see only what Ko-fi shows page owners about a donation; we never see your card or bank details.
If you email us, we use your address and message only to reply to you.
Questions and requests
To ask about this policy, or to ask what information we hold about you and have it deleted, write to citationnet.contact@gmail.com.
If this policy changes, the new version will be posted here with a new revision date.
See also the Terms of Use and the Disclaimer.