Power-law link strength distribution in paper cocitation networks

A network is constructed by nodes and links, thus the node degree and the link strength appear as underlying quantities in network analysis. While the power-law distribution of node degrees is verified as a basic feature of numerous real networks, we investigate whether the link strengths follow the power-law distribution in weighted networks. After testing 12 different paper cocitation networks with 2 methods, fitting in double-log scales and the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test (K-S test), we observe that, in most cases, the link strengths also follow the approximate power-law distribution. The results suggest that the power-law type distribution could emerge not only in nodes and informational entities, but also in links and informational connections.