{"id":"https://openalex.org/W7221438136","doi":"https://doi.org/10.70382/ajsitr.v13i9.096","title":"The Grounding Tax: How Domain Fine-Tuning Suppresses Context Utilisation in Retrieval-Augmented Generation","display_name":"The Grounding Tax: How Domain Fine-Tuning Suppresses Context Utilisation in Retrieval-Augmented Generation","publication_year":2026,"publication_date":"2026-10-10","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W7221438136","doi":"https://doi.org/10.70382/ajsitr.v13i9.096"},"language":"en","primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.70382/ajsitr.v13i9.096","doi":"https://doi.org/10.70382/ajsitr.v13i9.096","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.70382/ajsitr.v13i9.096","pdf_url":"https://africanscholarpub.com/ajsitr/article/download/1521/1558","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S5407044852","display_name":"Journal of Science Innovation and Technology Research","issn_l":"3026-958X","issn":["3026-958X","3027-1169"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"listed_in":[],"host_organization":null,"host_organization_name":null,"host_organization_lineage":[],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Journal of Science Innovation and Technology Research","raw_type":"journal-article"},"volume":null,"type":"article","is_traditional":true,"indexed_in":["crossref"],"open_access":{"is_oa":true,"oa_status":"diamond","oa_url":"https://africanscholarpub.com/ajsitr/article/download/1521/1558","any_repository_has_fulltext":false},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5157902095","display_name":"Usman Yunusa Labaran","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2196-9588","observed_orcids":["https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2196-9588"]},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I3132818693","display_name":"Baze University","ror":"https://ror.org/007tbc964","country_code":"NG","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I3132818693"]}],"countries":["NG"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Usman Yunusa Labaran","raw_affiliation_strings":["Department of Computer Science, Baze University, Abuja, Nigeria"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2196-9588","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Department of Computer Science, Baze University, Abuja, Nigeria","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I3132818693"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5140742557","display_name":"Rufai Yauri Aliyu","orcid":null,"observed_orcids":[]},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I3132818693","display_name":"Baze University","ror":"https://ror.org/007tbc964","country_code":"NG","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I3132818693"]}],"countries":["NG"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Rufai Yauri Aliyu","raw_affiliation_strings":["Department of Computer Science, Baze University, Abuja, Nigeria"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Department of Computer Science, Baze University, Abuja, Nigeria","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I3132818693"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5008087589","display_name":"Isah Charles Saidu","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3064-2093","observed_orcids":["https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3064-2093"]},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I3132818693","display_name":"Baze University","ror":"https://ror.org/007tbc964","country_code":"NG","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I3132818693"]}],"countries":["NG"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Charles Isah Saidu","raw_affiliation_strings":["Department of Computer Science, Baze University, Abuja, Nigeria"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3064-2093","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Department of Computer Science, Baze University, Abuja, Nigeria","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I3132818693"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5027874682","display_name":"Rislan Abdulazeez Kanya","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1100-3058","observed_orcids":["https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1100-3058"]},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Rislana A. Kanya","raw_affiliation_strings":["Cosmopolitan University, Abuja, Nigeria"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1100-3058","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Cosmopolitan University, Abuja, Nigeria","institution_ids":[]}]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5157905878","display_name":"Ahmad Nurudeen Tambaya","orcid":null,"observed_orcids":[]},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Ahmad N. Tambaya","raw_affiliation_strings":["Cyber Safety Alliance (CSA), Nottingham, United Kingdom"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Cyber Safety Alliance (CSA), Nottingham, United Kingdom","institution_ids":[]}]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":1,"institutions_distinct_count":1,"corresponding_author_ids":[],"corresponding_institution_ids":[],"apc_list":null,"apc_paid":null,"fwci":0.0,"has_fulltext":true,"cited_by_count":0,"citation_normalized_percentile":{"value":0.0,"is_in_top_1_percent":false,"is_in_top_10_percent":false},"cited_by_percentile_year":null,"biblio":{"volume":null,"issue":null,"first_page":null,"last_page":null},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10028","display_name":"Topic Modeling","score":0.9740999937057495,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10028","display_name":"Topic Modeling","score":0.9740999937057495,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10286","display_name":"Information Retrieval and Search Behavior","score":0.015699999406933784,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1710","display_name":"Information Systems"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11307","display_name":"Domain Adaptation and Few-Shot Learning","score":0.002400000113993883,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/retrieval-augmented-generation","display_name":"retrieval-augmented generation","score":0.996999979019165},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/domain-adaptation","display_name":"domain adaptation","score":0.6510000228881836},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/instruction-alignment","display_name":"instruction alignment","score":0.902999997138977},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/factual-question-answering","display_name":"factual question answering","score":0.8600000143051147},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/public-finance","display_name":"public finance","score":0.6710000038146973},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/llama-3-1","display_name":"Llama 3.1","score":0.6880000233650208},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/qwen2-5","display_name":"Qwen2.5","score":0.9559999704360962},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/knowledge-injection","display_name":"knowledge injection","score":0.5559999942779541},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/prompt-templates","display_name":"prompt templates","score":0.4569999873638153}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2779343474","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3109175","display_name":"Context (archaeology)","level":2,"score":0.7657999992370605},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.6898999810218811},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C185798385","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1161707","display_name":"Benchmark (surveying)","level":2,"score":0.6419000029563904},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C36503486","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11235244","display_name":"Domain (mathematical analysis)","level":2,"score":0.6215999722480774},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C168993435","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6501125","display_name":"Ground","level":2,"score":0.6176000237464905},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C61797465","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1188986","display_name":"Term (time)","level":2,"score":0.4684000015258789},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C154945302","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11660","display_name":"Artificial intelligence","level":1,"score":0.41780000925064087},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C42058472","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q810214","display_name":"Base (topology)","level":2,"score":0.40639999508857727},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C120936955","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2155640","display_name":"Empirical research","level":2,"score":0.38499999046325684},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C4554734","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q593744","display_name":"Knowledge base","level":2,"score":0.3824999928474426},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C183322885","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17007702","display_name":"Context model","level":3,"score":0.36980000138282776},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C50335755","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q483247","display_name":"Phenomenon","level":2,"score":0.35420000553131104},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C119857082","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2539","display_name":"Machine learning","level":1,"score":0.3538999855518341},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C166052673","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q83021","display_name":"Empirical evidence","level":2,"score":0.34610000252723694},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C92548554","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2262868","display_name":"Domain model","level":3,"score":0.3336000144481659},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C207685749","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2088941","display_name":"Domain knowledge","level":2,"score":0.3208000063896179},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C112930515","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4389547","display_name":"Risk analysis (engineering)","level":1,"score":0.3140000104904175},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C18762648","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q42213","display_name":"Work (physics)","level":2,"score":0.310699999332428},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C77618280","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1155772","display_name":"Scheme (mathematics)","level":2,"score":0.30489999055862427},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C204321447","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q30642","display_name":"Natural language processing","level":1,"score":0.2904999852180481},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2780451532","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q759676","display_name":"Task (project management)","level":2,"score":0.2897000014781952},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C137293760","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3621696","display_name":"Language model","level":2,"score":0.2874999940395355},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C107457646","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q207434","display_name":"Human\u2013computer interaction","level":1,"score":0.27950000762939453},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C12725497","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q810247","display_name":"Baseline (sea)","level":2,"score":0.26829999685287476},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C76188268","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1783165","display_name":"Context effect","level":3,"score":0.2646999955177307},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2777877512","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1116097","display_name":"Common ground","level":2,"score":0.26330000162124634},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2522767166","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2374463","display_name":"Data science","level":1,"score":0.25929999351501465}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":2,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.70382/ajsitr.v13i9.096","doi":"https://doi.org/10.70382/ajsitr.v13i9.096","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.70382/ajsitr.v13i9.096","pdf_url":"https://africanscholarpub.com/ajsitr/article/download/1521/1558","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S5407044852","display_name":"Journal of Science Innovation and Technology Research","issn_l":"3026-958X","issn":["3026-958X","3027-1169"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"listed_in":[],"host_organization":null,"host_organization_name":null,"host_organization_lineage":[],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Journal of Science Innovation and Technology Research","raw_type":"journal-article"},{"id":"pmh:oai:ojs2.africanscholarpub.com:article/1521","doi":null,"is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://africanscholarpub.com/ajsitr/article/view/1521","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S5407044852","display_name":"Journal of Science Innovation and Technology Research","issn_l":"3026-958X","issn":["3026-958X","3027-1169"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"listed_in":[],"host_organization":null,"host_organization_name":null,"host_organization_lineage":[],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"3027-1169","raw_type":"info:eu-repo/semantics/article"}],"best_oa_location":{"id":"doi:10.70382/ajsitr.v13i9.096","doi":"https://doi.org/10.70382/ajsitr.v13i9.096","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.70382/ajsitr.v13i9.096","pdf_url":"https://africanscholarpub.com/ajsitr/article/download/1521/1558","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S5407044852","display_name":"Journal of Science Innovation and Technology Research","issn_l":"3026-958X","issn":["3026-958X","3027-1169"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"listed_in":[],"host_organization":null,"host_organization_name":null,"host_organization_lineage":[],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Journal of Science Innovation and Technology Research","raw_type":"journal-article"},"sustainable_development_goals":[],"study_designs":[],"awards":[],"funders":[],"has_content":{"pdf":true,"grobid_xml":true},"content_urls":{"pdf":"https://content.openalex.org/works/W7221438136.pdf","grobid_xml":"https://content.openalex.org/works/W7221438136.grobid-xml"},"referenced_works_count":39,"referenced_works":["https://openalex.org/W2101105183","https://openalex.org/W2936695845","https://openalex.org/W2970476646","https://openalex.org/W2970636124","https://openalex.org/W2973379954","https://openalex.org/W3015883388","https://openalex.org/W3027879771","https://openalex.org/W3030163527","https://openalex.org/W3035441651","https://openalex.org/W3083410900","https://openalex.org/W3155807546","https://openalex.org/W3168867926","https://openalex.org/W3199011812","https://openalex.org/W4281690148","https://openalex.org/W4297253404","https://openalex.org/W4297435087","https://openalex.org/W4320005767","https://openalex.org/W4322718191","https://openalex.org/W4378189609","https://openalex.org/W4378908626","https://openalex.org/W4380352301","https://openalex.org/W4384071683","https://openalex.org/W4385019067","https://openalex.org/W4385572697","https://openalex.org/W4385573185","https://openalex.org/W4387156782","https://openalex.org/W4387225871","https://openalex.org/W4389524268","https://openalex.org/W4389818186","https://openalex.org/W4392361835","https://openalex.org/W4396788662","https://openalex.org/W4399836596","https://openalex.org/W4401042295","https://openalex.org/W4401306886","https://openalex.org/W4402670807","https://openalex.org/W4405003679","https://openalex.org/W7133198810","https://openalex.org/W7133211372","https://openalex.org/W7134626658"],"related_works":["https://openalex.org/W7113181586","https://openalex.org/W4399794929","https://openalex.org/W4411119833","https://openalex.org/W4392930030","https://openalex.org/W7162820117","https://openalex.org/W7149509034","https://openalex.org/W4411172490","https://openalex.org/W7203858594","https://openalex.org/W7171572989","https://openalex.org/W4415795407"],"abstract_inverted_index":{"Large":[0],"language":[1],"models":[2],"(LLMs)":[3],"are":[4,28],"routinely":[5],"adapted":[6,205],"to":[7,43,117,155,199,219],"specialised":[8],"domains":[9],"through":[10,17,56,69],"fine-tuning":[11,38,53,109,190],"and":[12,54,80,93,98,157,165,175,235,247,259,264],"grounded":[13],"in":[14,60,149,232],"external":[15],"evidence":[16,102,202,217],"retrieval-augmented":[18],"generation":[19],"(RAG).":[20],"The":[21,65,101],"prevailing":[22],"assumption":[23],"is":[24,67,123],"that":[25,173,225,236],"these":[26,222],"methods":[27],"complementary":[29],"even":[30],"though":[31],"minimal":[32],"empirical":[33],"work":[34],"examines":[35,49],"whether":[36],"domain-specific":[37],"influences":[39],"a":[40,57,61,83,192],"model\u2019s":[41,197],"responsiveness":[42],"retrieved":[44,121,201],"context.":[45],"Thus,":[46,221],"this":[47,180,184],"study":[48],"the":[50,125,129,137,144,147,162,186,196,204,216],"interaction":[51],"between":[52],"RAG":[55,238],"controlled":[58],"evaluation":[59,66,228],"high-stakes":[62],"public-finance":[63],"domain.":[64],"conducted":[68],"12":[70],"model":[71,77,131,139,206],"configurations":[72],"built":[73],"on":[74,195,208],"two":[75],"open-weight":[76],"families":[78],"(LLaMA-3.1-8B":[79],"Qwen2.5-7B),":[81],"using":[82,215],"frozen":[84],"100-query":[85],"benchmark":[86],"covering":[87],"factual":[88],"question-answering":[89],"(factual-QA),":[90],"risk":[91],"assessment,":[92],"summarisation":[94],"under":[95,244],"both":[96,245],"closed-book":[97,111,227,246],"context-matched":[99],"conditions.":[100],"confirms":[103],"successful":[104],"knowledge":[105,211],"injection":[106],"as":[107,128,262],"domain":[108,189,255],"raised":[110],"numeric-fact":[112],"accuracy":[113],"(NFA)":[114],"from":[115,134,153],"0.148":[116],"0.248.":[118],"However,":[119],"when":[120],"context":[122,135,150,233],"introduced,":[124],"benefit":[126],"collapses":[127],"base":[130],"gained":[132,140],"+0.183":[133],"while":[136],"fine-tuned":[138,237],"only":[141],"+0.021.":[142],"Across":[143],"backbone":[145],"pairs,":[146],"change":[148],"gain":[151],"ranged":[152],"-0.161":[154],"-0.348":[156],"was":[158],"statistically":[159],"significant":[160],"for":[161,253],"LLaMA":[163],"Instruct":[164],"Qwen":[166],"Base":[167],"pairs.":[168],"Further":[169],"ablation":[170],"analysis":[171],"shows":[172],"prompt-template":[174],"instruction":[176,257],"alignment":[177],"can":[178,229],"amplify":[179],"effect.":[181],"We":[182],"term":[183],"phenomenon":[185],"grounding":[187,261],"tax:":[188],"imposes":[191],"measurable":[193],"cost":[194],"ability":[198],"use":[200],"because":[203],"relies":[207],"internally":[209],"encoded":[210],"rather":[212],"than":[213],"faithfully":[214],"supplied":[218],"it.":[220],"findings":[223],"show":[224],"conventional":[226],"mask":[230],"degradation":[231],"utilisation":[234],"systems":[239],"must":[240],"be":[241],"evaluated":[242],"jointly":[243],"context-conditioned":[248],"settings.":[249],"Therefore,":[250],"we":[251],"argue":[252],"treating":[254],"adaptation,":[256],"alignment,":[258],"retrieval":[260],"distinct":[263],"potentially":[265],"competing":[266],"design":[267],"dimensions.":[268]},"counts_by_year":[],"updated_date":"2026-11-04T10:54:05.112534","created_date":"2026-10-12T00:00:00"}