  Visualizing citation relations with network structures is widely used, but
the visual complexity can make it challenging for individual researchers to
navigate through them. We collected data from 18 researchers using an interface
that we designed using network simplification methods and analyzed how users
browsed and identified important papers. Our analysis reveals six major
patterns used for identifying papers of interest, which can be categorized into
three key components: Fields, Bridges, and Foundations, each viewed from two
distinct perspectives: layout-oriented and connection-oriented. The
connection-oriented approach was found to be more effective for selecting
relevant papers, but the layout-oriented method was adopted more often, even
though it led to unexpected results and user frustration. Our findings
emphasize the importance of integrating these components and the necessity to
balance visual layouts with meaningful connections to enhance the effectiveness
of citation networks in academic browsing systems.
