Spreading processes are fundamental to complex networks. Identifying influential spreaders with dual local and global roles presents a crucial yet challenging task. To address this, our study proposes a novel method, the Basic Cycle Ratio (BCR), for assessing node importance. BCR leverages basic cycles and the cycle ratio to uniquely capture a node's local significance within its immediate neighborhood and its global role in maintaining network cohesion. We evaluated BCR on six diverse real-world social networks. Our method outperformed traditional centrality measures and other cycle-based approaches, proving more effective at selecting powerful spreaders and enhancing information diffusion. Besides, BCR offers a cost-effective and practical solution for social network applications.
@article{arxiv.2509.26220,
title = {Basic Cycle Ratio: Cost-Effective Ranking of Influential Spreaders from Local and Global Perspectives},
author = {Wenxin Zheng and Wenfeng Shi and Tianlong Fan and Linyuan Lv},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2509.26220},
year = {2025}
}