This is probably something that varies by the field, but I don't think most citations can be meaningfully placed on a positive / neutral / negative axis. When I

This is probably something that varies by the field, but I don't think most citations can be meaningfully placed on a positive / neutral / negative axis. When I cite something, it usually falls into one or more of the following categories: - background reading - related work - source for a specific claim / result - credit for software / data / other resource used in this work. I don't evaluate the work when I cite it. Instead, I try to provide useful information to the reader and to give credit when academic courtesy requires it.