Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39755696›Full record

ArticleNature communications2025

The dynamics of higher-order novelties.

Gabriele Di Bona, Alessandro Bellina, Giordano De Marzo, Angelo Petralia, Iacopo Iacopini, Vito Latora

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Gabriele Di BonaSchool of Mathematical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2615-0712
Alessandro BellinaSony Computer Science Laboratories Rome, Rome, Italy.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0004-3971-8025
Giordano De MarzoCentro Ricerche Enrico Fermi, Rome, Italy.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3127-5336
Angelo PetraliaDepartment of Economics and Business, University of Catania, Catania, Italy.
Iacopo IacopiniNetwork Science Institute, Northeastern University London, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8794-6410
Vito LatoraSchool of Mathematical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK. v.latora@qmul.ac.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0984-8038

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Studying how we explore the world in search of novelties is key to understand the mechanisms that can lead to new discoveries. Previous studies analyzed novelties in various exploration processes, defining them as the first appearance of an element. However, novelties can also be generated by combining what is already known. We hence define higher-order novelties as the first time two or more elements appear together, and we introduce higher-order Heaps' exponents as a way to characterize their pace of discovery. Through extensive analysis of real-world data, we find that processes with the same pace of discovery, as measured by the standard Heaps' exponent, can instead differ at higher orders. We then propose to model an exploration process as a random walk on a network in which the possible connections between elements evolve in time. The model reproduces the empirical properties of higher-order novelties, revealing how the network we explore changes over time along with the exploration process.

Identifiers

PMID39755696
PMCPMC11700146

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.