{"id":"https://openalex.org/W7126089693","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s44443-026-00471-6","title":"Optimizing multi-hop question answering reasoning through time-aware path construction","display_name":"Optimizing multi-hop question answering reasoning through time-aware path construction","publication_year":2026,"publication_date":"2026-01-29","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W7126089693","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s44443-026-00471-6"},"language":"en","primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.1007/s44443-026-00471-6","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s44443-026-00471-6","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S2764955546","display_name":"Journal of King Saud University - Computer and Information Sciences","issn_l":"1319-1578","issn":["1319-1578","2213-1248"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":true,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310320990","host_organization_name":"Elsevier BV","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310320990"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Elsevier BV"],"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 King Saud University Computer and Information Sciences","raw_type":"journal-article"},"type":"article","indexed_in":["crossref","doaj"],"open_access":{"is_oa":true,"oa_status":"gold","oa_url":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s44443-026-00471-6","any_repository_has_fulltext":true},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5115596430","display_name":"Xue Yang","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0009-8165-7832"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I20942203","display_name":"Hainan University","ror":"https://ror.org/03q648j11","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I20942203"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Xue Yang","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Information and Communication Engineering, Hainan University, 570228, Haikou, China"],"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Information and Communication Engineering, Hainan University, 570228, Haikou, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I20942203"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5124249187","display_name":"Siling Feng","orcid":null},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I20942203","display_name":"Hainan University","ror":"https://ror.org/03q648j11","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I20942203"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":true,"raw_author_name":"Siling Feng","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Information and Communication Engineering, Hainan University, 570228, Haikou, China"],"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Information and Communication Engineering, Hainan University, 570228, Haikou, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I20942203"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5113823193","display_name":"Shan Xue","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0004-2477-4614"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I20942203","display_name":"Hainan University","ror":"https://ror.org/03q648j11","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I20942203"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Shan Xue","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Information and Communication Engineering, Hainan University, 570228, Haikou, China"],"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Information and Communication Engineering, Hainan University, 570228, Haikou, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I20942203"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5124154309","display_name":"Qingkui Chen","orcid":null},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I20942203","display_name":"Hainan University","ror":"https://ror.org/03q648j11","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I20942203"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Qingkui Chen","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Information and Communication Engineering, Hainan University, 570228, Haikou, China"],"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Information and Communication Engineering, Hainan University, 570228, Haikou, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I20942203"]}]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5124248111","display_name":"Mengxing Huang","orcid":null},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I20942203","display_name":"Hainan University","ror":"https://ror.org/03q648j11","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I20942203"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Mengxing Huang","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Information and Communication Engineering, Hainan University, 570228, Haikou, China"],"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Information and Communication Engineering, Hainan University, 570228, Haikou, China","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I20942203"]}]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":1,"institutions_distinct_count":5,"corresponding_author_ids":["https://openalex.org/A5124249187"],"corresponding_institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I20942203"],"apc_list":{"value":1350,"currency":"USD","value_usd":1350},"apc_paid":{"value":1350,"currency":"USD","value_usd":1350},"fwci":0.0,"has_fulltext":false,"cited_by_count":0,"citation_normalized_percentile":{"value":0.22228696,"is_in_top_1_percent":false,"is_in_top_10_percent":false},"cited_by_percentile_year":null,"biblio":{"volume":"38","issue":"3","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":0.5778999924659729,"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":0.5778999924659729,"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/T11273","display_name":"Advanced Graph Neural Networks","score":0.14079999923706055,"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/T14347","display_name":"Big Data and Digital Economy","score":0.04619999974966049,"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"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/inference","display_name":"Inference","score":0.6615999937057495},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/question-answering","display_name":"Question answering","score":0.5533000230789185},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/completeness","display_name":"Completeness (order theory)","score":0.5094000101089478},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/reasoning-system","display_name":"Reasoning system","score":0.5045999884605408},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/path","display_name":"Path (computing)","score":0.4749000072479248},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/graph","display_name":"Graph","score":0.4650000035762787},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/temporal-database","display_name":"Temporal database","score":0.44179999828338623},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/consistency","display_name":"Consistency (knowledge bases)","score":0.4278999865055084},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/robustness","display_name":"Robustness (evolution)","score":0.4077000021934509},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/model-based-reasoning","display_name":"Model-based reasoning","score":0.4032999873161316}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.741599977016449},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2776214188","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q408386","display_name":"Inference","level":2,"score":0.6615999937057495},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C44291984","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1074173","display_name":"Question answering","level":2,"score":0.5533000230789185},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C154945302","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11660","display_name":"Artificial intelligence","level":1,"score":0.5400999784469604},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C17231256","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5156540","display_name":"Completeness (order theory)","level":2,"score":0.5094000101089478},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C89288958","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7301504","display_name":"Reasoning system","level":2,"score":0.5045999884605408},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2777735758","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q817765","display_name":"Path (computing)","level":2,"score":0.4749000072479248},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C132525143","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q141488","display_name":"Graph","level":2,"score":0.4650000035762787},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C77277458","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1969246","display_name":"Temporal database","level":2,"score":0.44179999828338623},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2776436953","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5163215","display_name":"Consistency (knowledge bases)","level":2,"score":0.4278999865055084},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C119857082","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2539","display_name":"Machine learning","level":1,"score":0.40799999237060547},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C63479239","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7353546","display_name":"Robustness (evolution)","level":3,"score":0.4077000021934509},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C37335422","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6888134","display_name":"Model-based reasoning","level":3,"score":0.4032999873161316},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C113954288","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q186885","display_name":"Timestamp","level":2,"score":0.396699994802475},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C83725634","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7268699","display_name":"Qualitative reasoning","level":2,"score":0.39579999446868896},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C185798385","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1161707","display_name":"Benchmark (surveying)","level":2,"score":0.3479999899864197},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2780801425","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5164392","display_name":"Construct (python library)","level":2,"score":0.3433000147342682},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C129916263","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1141183","display_name":"Backward chaining","level":4,"score":0.32760000228881836},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C80444323","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2878974","display_name":"Theoretical computer science","level":1,"score":0.323199987411499},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C193221554","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5153664","display_name":"Commonsense reasoning","level":2,"score":0.3190999925136566},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C25016198","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q781833","display_name":"Temporal logic","level":2,"score":0.31709998846054077},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C20162079","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1151406","display_name":"Case-based reasoning","level":2,"score":0.3149999976158142},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C124101348","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q172491","display_name":"Data mining","level":1,"score":0.3131999969482422},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C9616225","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3929429","display_name":"Semantic reasoner","level":2,"score":0.31290000677108765},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2777530160","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q41796","display_name":"Sentence","level":2,"score":0.30799999833106995},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C195344581","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2555318","display_name":"Automated reasoning","level":2,"score":0.2922999858856201},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C184337299","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1437428","display_name":"Semantics (computer science)","level":2,"score":0.29159998893737793},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C159032336","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2488768","display_name":"Non-monotonic logic","level":2,"score":0.28630000352859497},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2779662365","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5416694","display_name":"Event (particle physics)","level":2,"score":0.27129998803138733},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C179799912","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q205084","display_name":"Computational complexity theory","level":2,"score":0.2646999955177307},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C16311509","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4148050","display_name":"Dependency graph","level":3,"score":0.26190000772476196},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C115086926","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17004651","display_name":"Causal reasoning","level":3,"score":0.26190000772476196},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C55439883","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q360812","display_name":"Correctness","level":2,"score":0.25029999017715454}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":2,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.1007/s44443-026-00471-6","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s44443-026-00471-6","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S2764955546","display_name":"Journal of King Saud University - Computer and Information Sciences","issn_l":"1319-1578","issn":["1319-1578","2213-1248"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":true,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310320990","host_organization_name":"Elsevier BV","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310320990"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Elsevier BV"],"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 King Saud University Computer and Information Sciences","raw_type":"journal-article"},{"id":"pmh:oai:doaj.org/article:7f78efd75cc241f0971b46206cc860ec","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doaj.org/article/7f78efd75cc241f0971b46206cc860ec","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S112646816","display_name":"SHILAP Revista de lepidopterolog\u00eda","issn_l":"0300-5267","issn":["0300-5267","2340-4078"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":true,"is_core":false,"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":"submittedVersion","is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":"Journal of King Saud University: Computer and Information Sciences, Vol 38, Iss 3 (2026)","raw_type":"article"}],"best_oa_location":{"id":"doi:10.1007/s44443-026-00471-6","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s44443-026-00471-6","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S2764955546","display_name":"Journal of King Saud University - Computer and Information Sciences","issn_l":"1319-1578","issn":["1319-1578","2213-1248"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":true,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310320990","host_organization_name":"Elsevier BV","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310320990"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Elsevier BV"],"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 King Saud University Computer and Information Sciences","raw_type":"journal-article"},"sustainable_development_goals":[],"awards":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/G327898688","display_name":null,"funder_award_id":"62466016","funder_id":"https://openalex.org/F4320321001","funder_display_name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China"}],"funders":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/F4320321001","display_name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","ror":"https://ror.org/01h0zpd94"}],"has_content":{"pdf":false,"grobid_xml":false},"content_urls":null,"referenced_works_count":24,"referenced_works":["https://openalex.org/W3083307665","https://openalex.org/W3105055324","https://openalex.org/W3128120479","https://openalex.org/W3184698757","https://openalex.org/W3193037889","https://openalex.org/W3210635025","https://openalex.org/W4220924176","https://openalex.org/W4226252340","https://openalex.org/W4289711940","https://openalex.org/W4312766166","https://openalex.org/W4317904349","https://openalex.org/W4378388978","https://openalex.org/W4390692489","https://openalex.org/W4391352019","https://openalex.org/W4399643011","https://openalex.org/W4401070136","https://openalex.org/W4402192457","https://openalex.org/W4404048128","https://openalex.org/W4404780797","https://openalex.org/W4404782541","https://openalex.org/W4408783062","https://openalex.org/W4409888121","https://openalex.org/W4410502462","https://openalex.org/W4412888743"],"related_works":[],"abstract_inverted_index":{"Abstract":[0],"Multi-hop":[1],"question":[2],"answering":[3],"(MHQA)":[4],"requires":[5],"models":[6],"to":[7,14,50,74,93,103,118,263],"perform":[8],"reasoning":[9,28,38,55,80,121,138,226,239],"across":[10,237],"multiple":[11],"text":[12],"segments":[13],"answer":[15],"complex":[16],"questions.":[17],"However,":[18],"existing":[19],"methods":[20],"often":[21],"overlook":[22],"temporal":[23,108,131,158,202,232],"dependencies":[24],"between":[25,79,245],"facts":[26],"during":[27],"path":[29,155,216],"construction,":[30],"resulting":[31],"in":[32,48,67,219],"illogical":[33],"inference":[34,60],"chains":[35],"and":[36,62,82,107,127,133,149,157,199,234,248,270],"reduced":[37],"accuracy.":[39],"This":[40,252],"study":[41,253],"enhances":[42],"the":[43,52,59,125,137,152,163,177,187,210,213],"modeling":[44],"of":[45,54,64,172,194,205,212],"time-sensitive":[46],"information":[47],"MHQA":[49,146,221],"optimize":[51],"construction":[53,217],"paths,":[56],"thereby":[57],"improving":[58],"accuracy":[61],"robustness":[63],"QA":[65,260],"systems":[66,261],"real-world":[68,264],"scientific":[69],"scenarios.":[70],"The":[71,223],"objective":[72],"is":[73,90,116],"achieve":[75],"a":[76,111,167,201],"dynamic":[77],"balance":[78,244],"precision":[81],"computational":[83,250],"efficiency.":[84],"A":[85],"Time-Aware":[86],"Graph":[87],"Attention":[88],"Mechanism":[89],"first":[91],"introduced":[92],"dynamically":[94],"construct":[95],"entity-relation":[96],"graphs":[97],"within":[98],"documents,":[99],"incorporating":[100],"timestamp":[101],"features":[102],"capture":[104],"event":[105],"sequences":[106],"dependencies.":[109],"Then,":[110],"Dual-Level":[112],"Temporal":[113],"Path":[114],"Selector":[115],"proposed":[117,164,214,224],"identify":[119],"optimal":[120],"paths":[122],"at":[123],"both":[124],"sentence":[126],"entity":[128],"levels,":[129],"ensuring":[130],"consistency":[132,203],"semantic":[134],"completeness":[135],"throughout":[136],"process.":[139],"Experiments":[140],"are":[141],"conducted":[142],"on":[143,174],"two":[144],"benchmark":[145],"datasets,":[147],"HotpotQA":[148],"MuSiQue-full,":[150,186],"evaluating":[151],"model\u2019s":[153],"accuracy,":[154],"coherence,":[156,231],"consistency.":[159],"Results":[160],"show":[161],"that":[162],"model":[165,180,188],"achieves":[166],"Joint":[168],"Exact":[169],"Match":[170],"score":[171,193,204],"74.3%":[173],"HotpotQA,":[175],"outperforming":[176],"current":[178],"best-performing":[179],"Pathformer":[181],"(71.5%)":[182],"by":[183],"2.8%.":[184],"On":[185],"attains":[189],"an":[190,242],"Answer":[191],"F1":[192],"87.1%,":[195],"exceeding":[196],"DecompT5\u2019s":[197],"85.2%,":[198],"reaches":[200],"91.3.":[206],"These":[207],"findings":[208],"confirm":[209],"effectiveness":[211],"time-aware":[215],"strategy":[218],"enhancing":[220],"performance.":[222],"time-enhanced":[225],"approach":[227],"significantly":[228],"improves":[229],"logical":[230],"reasoning,":[233],"adaptive":[235],"efficiency":[236],"varying":[238],"depths,":[240],"demonstrating":[241],"effective":[243],"performance":[246],"gains":[247],"manageable":[249],"costs.":[251],"provides":[254],"valuable":[255],"insights":[256],"for":[257],"developing":[258],"temporally-aware":[259],"applicable":[262],"scenarios":[265],"such":[266],"as":[267],"historical":[268],"analysis":[269],"legal":[271],"reasoning.":[272]},"counts_by_year":[],"updated_date":"2026-04-09T08:11:56.329763","created_date":"2026-01-30T00:00:00"}