This paper introduces the concept of triangular citation that combines direct citation, co-citation and bibliographic coupling, and defines three kinds of literature used in triangular citation, namely, original Literature A, intermediary Literature B and following Literature C. Taking citation data from the CNKI database as the experimental sample, it was found that there are triangular citations in the actual citation network, with a high coverage rate. Additionally, the authors analyzed the triangular citation sample data from the different perspectives of reference time, literature type, impact factor, interdisciplinary citation, and the author’s self-citation, thereby finding the external characteristics of literature and internal trends of citation in the triangular citation. Additionally, it was concluded that the literature between A and C has an “indirect citation” mechanism. The citation characteristics of the two, i.e., A and C, are different from the direct citation relationship characteristics of A and B and B and C. The triangular citation proposed in this paper provides a new research perspective for bibliometrics, and it can be used to explore hidden literature relationships, citation mechanisms and citation motivations.

本文介绍了将直接引用，共引用和书目耦合相结合的三角引用的概念，并定义了三角引用中使用的三种文献，即原始文献A，中间文献B和后续文献C。以CNKI数据库为实验样本，发现实际的引用网络中存在三角引用，覆盖率较高。此外，作者还从参考时间，文献类型，影响因子，学科交叉引用和作者的自我引用等不同角度分析了三角引用样本数据，从而发现了三角形引用中文献的外部特征和内部引用趋势。此外，结论是，A和C之间的文献具有“间接引文”机制。A和C这两者的引用特性不同于A和B以及B和C的直接引用关系特性。本文提出的三角引用为文献计量学提供了新的研究视角，可用于文献计量学探索隐藏的文献关系，引文机制和引文动机。