There are a couple of major ways to use citations:
- Citing
By using the references from the end of an article you'll move backwards and laterally in time to connected literature in the field. This is a great way to find other relevant articles as well as foundational research in the field.
- Cited by
By using a citation searching database (such as Scopus or Google Scholar) you can connect to newer literature in the field. This is a great way to find more relevant articles as well as get as sense of how significant the article you're starting from is to the field as a whole.
