I. Overview
A. What is Citation Analysis?
Citation Analysis is the process of examining how other researchers reference, discuss, and build upon your work in their publications. It involves:
Collecting papers - Your publications and papers that cite your work
Extracting citation text - Finding the specific sentences where your work is mentioned
Analyzing context - Understanding how your work is discussed (positively, neutrally, or critically)
Identifying impact - Demonstrating your influence on the research field
In academic research, citations are the primary way the scientific community acknowledges influential work. When independent researchers cite your papers, they're validating your contributions, building on your methods, or comparing their results to yours.
B. Why Citation Analysis is Critical for Immigration Petitions
For employment-based immigration petitions (EB-1A, EB-1B, NIW, O-1), citation analysis provides objective evidence of your impact and recognition:
EB-1A (Extraordinary Ability)
Proves "sustained national or international acclaim"
Demonstrates you're among the top researchers in your field
Shows independent validation of your contributions
USCIS expects evidence of "major contributions to the field"
What citation analysis provides:
Independent researchers praising your work
Evidence of widespread adoption of your methods
International recognition from diverse institutions
Quotes describing your work as "groundbreaking," "pioneering," or "seminal"
EB-1B (Outstanding Researcher/Professor)
Demonstrates international recognition
Shows your research is considered outstanding
Proves impact beyond your own institution
What citation analysis provides:
Citations from researchers worldwide
Evidence your work is used as a foundation by others
Recognition from leading institutions and researchers
NIW (National Interest Waiver)
Proves your work benefits the United States
Demonstrates substantial merit and national importance
Shows you're well-positioned to advance your field
What citation analysis provides:
Evidence of practical impact and applications
Citations showing real-world use of your research
Quotes about how your work solved important problems
O-1 (Extraordinary Ability Visa)
Similar to EB-1A but for temporary work
Requires evidence of sustained acclaim
Demonstrates top-tier expertise
What citation analysis provides:
Recognition from peers in your field
Evidence of influential contributions
Documentation of your work's impact
C. Why Citation Analysis is Time-Consuming (Without QuickFiling)
Let's walk through a realistic example of manual citation analysis:
Your situation:
You have 5 papers published
Google Scholar shows 100 total citations across these papers
You need to analyze all citations for your petition
Here's the actual work required:
Step 1: Document Citation Counts (15-20 minutes)
What you need to do:
Visit Google Scholar for each of your 5 papers
Screenshot or save each paper's page showing citation count
Create evidence that you have 100 citations total
Save and organize these screenshots
Why it matters: USCIS wants proof of your citation counts from Google Scholar
Time: ~3 minutes per paper + 5 min organizing = 20 minutes
Step 2: Download and Number Your Papers (30-45 minutes)
What you need to do:
Download PDFs of your own 5 papers
Name them systematically (Paper-01.pdf through Paper-05.pdf)
Create reference list with titles and journals
Verify files are complete and readable
Challenges:
Some older papers may be hard to access
Need to maintain consistent naming
Ensure high-quality PDFs
Time: ~6-8 minutes per paper = 40 minutes
Step 3: Open and Analyze Each Citing Paper (20-30 hours)
This is the most time-consuming part.
In practice, you work on one paper at a time: open it in browser, analyze the citation, and only save the PDF if it's valuable.
For each of the 100 citing papers, you need to:
Find and open the paper (1 minute)
Search on Google Scholar for the citing paper
Click through to find full-text PDF
Open in browser to preview
Note: Some papers may take longer to access
Review the PDF (0 seconds)
Quickly check if it's the right paper
Find your work in the references and read context (1 minutes)
Scroll to bibliography/references section
Locate your paper among 20-100 references
Note reference number (e.g., [23])
Use PDF search for reference number [23]
Might appear 1-5 times in the paper
Citations could be in introduction, methods, results, or discussion
Read paragraph before and after each citation
Understand how they're using your work
Average paper length: 8-15 pages
Determine if notable and extract citation text (1 minutes)
Ask yourself:
Do they use your methodology or code?
Do they say your work is important/novel/groundbreaking?
Do they build upon your results?
Is this from a reputable journal/author?
Does it demonstrate impact of your work?
If notable, extract:
Highlight the relevant sentences
Copy the exact citation text
Include surrounding context
Save in your document/spreadsheet
Document metadata for citation mapping (1 minute)
First author name
Authors' institutions
Authors' countries
Journal name and impact factor
Year of publication
Citation type (positive/neutral/negative)
Save file if citation is useful (1 minute)
Download and save the PDF (only if citation is valuable)
Add to your citation database
Link to saved PDF file
Note page numbers and metadata
Time per paper: 5 minutes 100 papers × 5 minutes = 500 minutes = 8.3 hours
Challenges:
Some papers have access issues, adding time
Multiple citations of same work in one paper
Technical language requiring careful reading
Citations in unusual locations (figures, tables, footnotes)
Mental fatigue from repetitive work
Step 4: Format for USCIS Submission (2-4 hours)
Create final evidence package:
Format selected citations for petition
Create citation summary document
Generate citation map visualizations
Prepare evidence exhibits
Proofread everything
Create table of contents
Time: 3 hours
Total Manual Time Required
Step | Time Required |
1. Document citation counts | 20 minutes |
2. Download and number your papers | 40 minutes |
3. Open and analyze each citing paper (100 papers) | 8-10 hours |
4. Format for USCIS | 3 hours |
TOTAL | 12-14 hours |
Reality check:
Spread over 2-4 weeks (not continuous work)
Extremely tedious and repetitive
High risk of errors and missed citations
Mental fatigue leads to lower quality analysis
Easy to give up before completing all citations
How QuickFiling Saves Time
Using the same example (5 papers, 100 citations), here's what QuickFiling automates:
Task | Manual Time | QuickFiling Time | Time Saved |
Document citation counts | 20 min | 0 hours (automatic) | 20 min |
Download your papers | 40 min | 5 min (automatic) | 35 min |
Open & analyze 100 citing papers | 8-10 hours | 30 min~ (automatic) | 7.5-9.5 hours |
Format for USCIS | 3 hours | 15 min (auto-export) | 2.75 hours |
TOTAL | 12-14 hours | 50 min | 10+ hours |
II. Citation Analysis using Quickfiling
Step 1. Getting Started
Log in to your QuickFiling workspace. From the navigation menu, click “Citation Analysis.”
2. A list of available workspaces will appear. Choose the workspace where you would like to save your analysis results.
3. If this is your first time using the feature and you have not yet linked your Google Scholar profile, you will be prompted to enter your Google Scholar URL.
If you do not have a Google Scholar profile, please create one before proceeding.
You'll see two main tabs:
Upload Papers - Where you upload and manage your papers
Citation Analysis - Where you review extracted citations (available after analysis)
Start with the Upload Papers tab.
Step 2: Check Automatically Collected Papers
When you first access Citation Analysis, QuickFiling automatically attempts to collect papers.
What QuickFiling does automatically:
Connects to your Google Scholar profile
Identifies your publications and papers citing your work
Downloads PDFs from publicly available sources
Organizes papers in your workspace
Check for the green badge:
✅ "We've automatically collected X papers" - Papers successfully downloaded
Why some papers may be missing:
Papers behind paywalls (requires institutional access)
PDFs not publicly available
Publisher restrictions
Next: You'll need to upload any missing papers manually.
Step 3: Upload Missing Papers
Sub-tab 1: "Papers to Upload"
This tab shows papers that need your attention.
A. Upload Your Publications
Review the list - Your publications that are missing PDFs
For each paper, choose one action:
Option 1: Upload
Click Upload button
Select PDF from your computer
Wait for upload confirmation
Status changes to "Uploaded" ✅
Option 2: Skip
Click Skip if you don't want this paper in analysis
Paper is excluded from citation extraction
You can un-skip later if needed
Option 3: Confirm
Click Confirm if PDF is already uploaded
Verifies the existing file is correct
B. Upload Citing Papers
Same process as above, but for papers that cite your work.
Review the list - Papers by other researchers that cite your work
Choose Upload/Skip/Confirm for each paper
⚡ Bulk Upload Option (Recommended if you have too many missing papers to upload):
If you have many citing papers and access to those (e..g, University's network):
Click the "Bulk Upload Script" link
Follow instructions at Bulk Upload Guide
Script uses your network's access to download papers automatically
Saves hours of manual uploading
When to use bulk upload:
30+ papers to upload?
You have university/institutional network access
Papers are from major publishers (Elsevier, Springer, IEEE, Wiley, etc.)
Sub-tab 2: "Review & Confirm Papers"
This shows papers QuickFiling successfully auto-collected.
What to do:
Verify auto-collected papers
Check that paper titles match expectations
Preview PDFs to ensure they're readable
Look for any errors in automatic collection
Skip irrelevant papers
Click Skip for papers not relevant to your petition
Focus on high-quality, high-impact papers
Skip papers that only briefly mention yours
Confirm papers to analyze
Click Confirm on papers you want included
Confirmed papers will proceed to citation extraction
Sub-tab 3: "Add Unlisted Citing Papers"
Use this to manually add papers that cite your work but aren't in Google Scholar.
When to use:
Recent papers (not yet indexed in Google Scholar)
Non-indexed journals or conferences
Papers you know cite your work but system missed
How to add:
Click "Add Unlisted Citing Papers" tab
Fill out the form:
Title of citing paper - Enter full title
Your article cited - Select which of your papers it cites
Upload PDF - Browse and upload the PDF
Click Submit
Paper is added to your analysis queue
Step 4: Launch Citation Analysis
Once you've uploaded and confirmed your papers, you're ready to start the analysis.
Pre-launch checklist:
✅ Papers are confirmed or uploaded
✅ Irrelevant papers are skipped
✅ PDFs are readable and complete
To launch analysis:
Click "Next: Analyze Citations" button
Confirm when prompted
Analysis begins automatically
Step 5: Wait for Analysis to Complete
QuickFiling's AI will now analyze all your papers automatically.
During processing:
✅ Page auto-refreshes every 5 seconds
✅ "Analyzed" column updates as each paper completes
✅ You can navigate away and return later - analysis continues in background
✅ You can refresh the page to see latest results.
After analysis completes, you'll review the extracted citations and export them for your petition.
Step 6: Access Citation Analysis Results
Click the "Citation Analysis" tab (next to "Upload Papers")
View the Citation Analysis Results table
The table shows all your papers with extracted citation data.
Table Columns Explained
Column | What It Shows | What It Means |
Title | Your paper's title | The publication you authored |
Published In | Journal/conference name | Where your paper was published |
Year | Publication year | When it was published |
Citations | Total citation count | From Google Scholar |
Analyzed | Citations extracted | Successfully analyzed citations |
Selected | Citations you saved | Notable citations you've chosen |
Actions | Review button | Opens citation detail modal |
Step 7: Reviewing Citations for Each Paper
Find a paper in the results table
Click the "Review" button in Actions column
Modal window opens showing all citations
Selecting Notable Citations
Read Citation Carefully
Understand the full context
Note the sentiment and language
Consider the citing paper's reputation
Evaluate Citation Quality
Is it substantive or just a passing mention?
Does it highlight your innovation?
Is the citing paper from a reputable source?
Does it use strong positive language?
Check the Checkbox
Click checkbox next to the citation
Counter updates automatically
Click "Save" to export selected notable citations to your workspace.
Step 8: view your citation analysis results.
Click the workspace link, and under "Publications and citations" folder, you will see stored citation analysis results.
What does citation analysis results include?
Your Papers:
✅ First page of each of your papers (showing name, title, abstract)
Google Scholar Evidence:
✅ Screenshot of your Google Scholar page with citation data
Citation Maps:
✅ Citation Growth Map (showing citation trends over time)
✅ Citation Map (showing XX countries citing your work). also known for citation distribution mpa, 油灯图 in chinese.
Notable Citations (for each selected citation):
✅ First page of the citing paper
✅ Pages where they cite your work (with highlighted text)
✅ References page showing your paper
Everything is:
✅ Organized by your papers
✅ Formatted for USCIS submission
✅ Ready to include in petition package
III. What Makes a Notable Citation?
Strong Positive Language: ✅ "pioneering," "groundbreaking," "seminal" ✅ "significant contribution," "novel approach" ✅ "established the foundation for" ✅ "revolutionized," "transformed"
Demonstrates Impact: ✅ "Built upon Smith's methodology" ✅ "Following Smith's framework" ✅ "Inspired by Smith's work" ✅ "Validated Smith's hypothesis"
High-Quality Source: ✅ Nature, Science, Cell, PNAS ✅ Top-tier conferences (NeurIPS, CVPR, ICML) ✅ Leading field-specific journals ✅ Papers by renowned researchers
Independent Recognition: ✅ Authors from different institutions ✅ Different countries ✅ No collaboration history ✅ Different research groups
A. Selection Guidelines by Citation Count
Per Paper:
Recommended: 3-5 notable citations
Maximum: No limit, but quality > quantity
For Entire Petition:
EB-1A: No limit, but quality > quantity
NIW: No limit, but quality > quantity
Quality matters! One citation from Nature is worth more than ten from unknown journals.
B. Selection Best Practices
1. Diversity of Sources
Geographic Diversity:
✅ Citations from multiple countries
✅ Different continents represented
✅ Both developed and developing nations
Institutional Diversity:
✅ Various universities and research centers
✅ Different research groups
✅ Mix of academic, industry, and government labs
Temporal Diversity:
✅ Citations from different years
✅ Shows sustained impact over time
✅ Recent citations prove current relevance
Publication Diversity:
✅ Multiple journals and conferences
✅ Different subfields citing your work
✅ Various publication formats (journals, conferences, books)
2. Citation Quality Indicators
Language Quality: ✅ Superlative adjectives ("first," "best," "leading") ✅ Active voice describing your contribution ✅ Extensive discussion (not just brief mention) ✅ Appears in introduction or related work (prominent placement)
Citation Context: ✅ Central to the citing paper's methodology ✅ Used as baseline for comparison ✅ Described as influential or foundational ✅ Cited multiple times in same paper
Citing Paper Quality: ✅ High impact factor journal ✅ Highly-cited paper itself ✅ Recent publication (shows current relevance) ✅ Authored by well-known researchers
Independent Validation: ✅ Authors not your collaborators ✅ Different institution from yours ✅ No prior co-authorship history ✅ Independent research group
3. Strategic Selection
Support Your Petition Narrative:
✅ Citations that align with your claimed contributions
✅ Citations demonstrating specific achievements
✅ Citations supporting your "extraordinary ability" claims
Demonstrate Commercial/Practical Impact:
✅ Citations from industry research
✅ Patents citing your work
✅ Citations mentioning real-world applications
✅ Citations about commercialization or products
Show International Recognition:
✅ Citations from international researchers
✅ Global distribution of citing institutions
✅ Translations or international collaborations
✅ International conference papers
Highlight Sustained Impact:
✅ Citations spanning multiple years
✅ Citations from both early and recent papers
✅ Citations showing continued influence
✅ Citations building on previous citations
4. What to Avoid Selecting
❌ Self-Citations
Unless specifically needed for narrative
USCIS values independent citations more
❌ Negative Citations
Critiques or limitations pointed out
Unfavorable comparisons
Unless constructive and acknowledges innovation
❌ Superficial Mentions
Brief citation in passing
Only in bibliography, not discussed
No substantive engagement with your work
❌ Low-Quality Sources
Predatory journals
Non-peer-reviewed sources
Student theses or dissertations (usually)
Unpublished or preprint citations
Modifying Selections
To change selections:
Click "Review" on any paper again
Uncheck citations to remove
Check new citations to add
Click "save" - changes saved
IV. Advanced Features
Regenerate Analysis
When to use:
Added new papers after initial analysis
Want to start citation selection from scratch
Analysis had errors or issues
Significant time has passed and new citations available
How to regenerate:
Click red "Regenerate" button (top-right of results table)
Read warning prompt carefully
Confirm action
System deletes all previous selections
Re-analyzes all papers
Must re-select all citations
⚠️ Critical Warning:
All previous selections are deleted
Cannot be undone
Must re-select every citation
Best practice: Only regenerate if absolutely necessary. Use "Refresh" instead when possible.