1. Schema before volume

Define node and edge types once; avoid “everything connects to everything” sprawl.

2. Edge evidence rule

Every edge has a citation column before visualization.

3. Iterative expansion

Start from seed set (known persons/orgs). Expand one hop; review; repeat. Stop when marginal edges are noise.

4. Layout honesty

Force-directed layouts are not proof of clusters being “teams.” Label clusters descriptively.

5. Export for audit

CSV/JSON of nodes and edges for peer review prior to publication.

Related skills

network-analysis-specialist, corporate-intelligence-investigator