Of intent, citation game, and scale-free networks: A heuristic argument

A heuristic argument was presented in favor of hypothesis that scientific communication corresponds to a process known as scale-free network. As a result, it is argued that scientific referencing through citation follows the same process, therefore it could be expected that this shall also exhibit fractality as observed in various phenomena associated with scale-free networks. This argument appears conceivable because the process of citation involves a decision-making, coined here as ‘citation game.’ In this regard, it is recommended to conduct citation analysis to measure the fractality of this process. While at present this heuristic argument cannot be considered as conclusive, further research is recommended to verify or refute this hypothesis.