mpaR - Main Path Analysis for Citation and Directed Networks

Implements Main Path Analysis (MPA) as introduced by Hummon and Doreian (1989) <doi:10.1016/0378-8733(89)90017-8>. Given a directed acyclic graph (DAG) representing a citation or precedence network, the package computes traversal weights (SPC, SPLC, SPNP) for each edge and extracts the global, local, and key-route main paths. Also provides tools for DAG validation, node role classification (source/terminal/user), per-component path extraction for disconnected networks, and scale-free network testing. Accepts igraph objects or edge-list data frames as input. Includes readers for Pajek (.net) and Gephi export (.gexf, .graphml) files.