Citation Loops

A citation loop occurs when an organisation's published findings are corroborated primarily by sources that share governance, funding, or authorship with the original publisher — creating a closed evidential circuit that amplifies a claim without adding independent support.

4 documented loops 21 reports involved Rubric v0.3.2

Network Map

Organisation connections across all loops

Hover a loop ID in the legend to isolate its edges, or hover a node to see its connections. Dashed outlines mark organisations that appear in multiple loops.

LoopsLOOP-001LOOP-002LOOP-003LOOP-004
RolesPublisherSourceGovernanceAmplifier
EdgesCitationGovernanceFundingAmplification

All Loops

4 documented
LOOP-001 Severe

CSOH / India Hate Lab / Hindutva Watch Founder Network

CSOH cites India Hate Lab and Hindutva Watch as independent corroboration for its incident counts. All three...

CSOH India Hate Lab Hindutva Watch Shared Founder
D5 D7 7 reports
Circular CitationGovernance Overlap
LOOP-002 Significant

Equality Labs Self-Citation Chain

The 2018 Caste in the United States report relies primarily on an earlier (2016) Equality Labs internal survey as its...

Equality Labs EL 2016 Survey
D5 D7 2 reports
Self-Citation
LOOP-003 Significant

USCIRF / IAMC Advocacy–Designation Loop

IAMC and affiliated organisations submit testimony and briefings that feed into USCIRF's evidence base for India...

USCIRF IAMC Justice For All
D5 D4 12 reports
Circular CitationEcho Chamber
LOOP-004 Significant

Savera / PRA Report Series Self-Citation

Savera's three investigation reports form a self-citation chain published across 2024. Each successive report cites...

Savera PRA Hindutva Watch
D5 D6 3 reports
Self-CitationCircular Citation

Identification Criteria

What qualifies as a loop

A pattern enters the registry only when supported by documentary evidence — IRS 990 filings, state registrations, co-authorship records, or public governance disclosures.

01

Circular citation

Source A cites Source B as corroboration; Source B cites Source A. Neither provides independent evidentiary grounding.

02

Governance overlap

Two or more sources cited as independent share board members, officers, or founders — established via public filings (IRS 990, state registrations).

03

Self-citation

A report's primary quantitative claims rest on data produced by the same organisation with no independent audit or replication.

04

Funding dependence

The citing and cited organisations share a common funder or are in a direct grantor–grantee relationship undisclosed in the report.