Does citation content of references from different disciplines demonstrate same distribution pattern?

ABSTRACT Citation in academic articles is an important expression of knowledge flow between different disciplines. Analysis of citation content of references from different disciplines can help scholars to understand the role of various disciplines in knowledge flow. This study identifies the discipline of references in academic articles, and then explores the distribution pattern, including cited frequency and cited position (different type of section), of citation content of these references from different disciplines. Finally, we conclude that distribution patterns of different disciplines are different in knowledge flow. Although most references come from natural science, the humanities and social sciences still play an important role in the introduction and background. Basic disciplines like Mathematics are the main providers of methods, and some disciplines relevant to the research topic, like Nursing and Medicine in PLOS, provide more support for the results part of articles.