Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40408457›Full record

ArticlePloS one2025

The US Caselaw as a living system.

Carlos G O Fernandes, Erneson A Oliveira, Rilder S Pires, João A Monteiro Neto, J Ernesto Pimentel Fh, José S Andrade, Vasco Furtado

Abstract readHistorical Article
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 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

7 authors.

Carlos G O FernandesPrograma de Pós Graduaç ao em Informática Aplicada, Universidade de Fortaleza, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil.
Erneson A OliveiraPrograma de Pós Graduaç ao em Informática Aplicada, Universidade de Fortaleza, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil.
Rilder S PiresPrograma de Pós Graduaç ao em Informática Aplicada, Universidade de Fortaleza, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4873-5308
João A Monteiro NetoCentro de Ciências Jurídicas, Universidade de Fortaleza, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil.
J Ernesto Pimentel FhPrograma de Pós Graduaç ao em Ciências Jurídicas, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Jo ao Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil.
José S AndradeDepartamento de Física, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil.
Vasco FurtadoPrograma de Pós Graduaç ao em Informática Aplicada, Universidade de Fortaleza, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This study presents an innovative exploration of the American Caselaw database, encompassing more than five million legal cases spanning three centuries of American history. Using complex network analysis, we reveal the organic nature of the US Caselaw, fundamentally anchored in common law. Through analysis of citation and bibliographic coupling networks, we shed light on the system's internal structure, unveiling communities delineated by regional, federal jurisdiction, and clustering based on similar legal citations. Our research uncovers a remarkable allometric relationship between the activity of judges and the legal case citations, reflecting the analogy between metabolic rate and body mass correlation observed in biological organisms. Furthermore, our results show a consistent self-similar characteristics of the communities and their maximum spanning trees, which also provides relevant insight into the origin of the allometric behavior. This analysis not only reveals the US Caselaw as a "living" entity but also sets a precedent in Caselaw-based judicial system studies, reinforcing the notion of its dynamic, organic functionality in the realm of analyzing complex legal systems.

Identifiers

PMID40408457
PMCPMC12101733

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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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.