Publication Trend of Cited Literature

Distribution of the 148 references cited in the survey on Self-Evolving Agent Engineering for Healthcare (search conducted April 2026; bibliography updated May 2026 after a full citation-claim audit and a venue-targeted citation refresh). Two foundational works are cited but excluded from the timeline below: MYCIN (1975) and Goddard et al. (2012, automation bias).

148
References cited
in survey
34
Peak year
(2023)
44%
Published in
2022–2024
2015
Earliest cited
modern work

Number of Papers per Year

Bars show cited papers per publication year. Light blue = foundational works; blue = primary search window (2022–2025); pale blue with hatch = partial 2026.
Foundational (≤ 2021) Primary window (2022–2025) 2026 (partial, through April)*

* Search conducted April 2026; 2026 count reflects partial-year indexing.

Cumulative Paper Count

Running total of cited papers over time, showing acceleration in the self-evolving agent research area.

Year-over-Year Growth Rate

Percentage change in number of cited papers compared to the previous year (excluding 2026 partial year). Years where the previous year had fewer than 3 papers are omitted, since small-denominator percentages are not informative.