Outlier Detection in Graphs: A Study on the Impact of Multiple Graph Models


Guilherme Oliveira Campos, Edré Moreira, Wagner Meira Jr, Arthur Zimek




Several previous works proposed techniques to detect outliers in graph data. Usually, some complex dataset is modeled as a graph and a technique for detecting outliers in graphs is applied. The impact of the graph model on the outlier detection capabilities of any method has been ignored. Here we assess the impact of the graph model on the outlier detection performance and the gains that may be achieved by using multiple graph models and combining the results obtained by these models. We show that assessing the similarity between graphs may be a guidance to determine effective combinations, as less similar graphs are complementary with respect to outlier information they provide and lead to better outlier detection.