Heng Zheng

Selfie
Postdoctoral Research Associate,
School of Information Sciences,
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Experience | Publications | Funding | Teaching | Service

Email address: zhenghz@illinois.edu

Author profiles: ORCID | Google Scholar | LinkedIn | ACM Author Profile | DBLP

Research interests: Computational Argumentation; Explainable AI; Computational Social Science; Digital Libraries; Legal Informatics

Experience

Update: Starting August 2025, I will join the University of Kentucky as a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Information Science.

2023 – present: Postdoctoral Research Associate, School of Information Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Publications

* Presenter

Peer-reviewed conference publications

  1. H. Zheng*, Y. Fu, M. J. Sarol, I. Sarraf, and J. Schneider. “Addressing Unreliability Propagation in Scientific Digital Libraries”. In: Proceedings of the 2024 ACM/IEEE-CS Joint Conference on Digital Libraries (JCDL). 2024. DOI: 10.1145/3677389.3702526

  2. H. Zheng*, T.D. Ledford, J. Schneider. “Arguing About Controversial Science in the News: Does Epistemic Uncertainty Contribute to Information Disorder?” In: Wisdom, Well-Being, Win-Win. iConference 2024. Ed. by Sserwanga, I., et al. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 14597. Springer, Cham, 2024, pp. 211–235 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-57860-1_16

  3. J. Schneider, J. Lee, H. Zheng, and M. O. Salami. “Assessing the Agreement in Retraction Indexing across 4 Multidisciplinary Sources: Crossref, Retraction Watch, Scopus, and Web of Science”. In: 27th International Conference on Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators (STI 2023). May 2023. DOI: 10.55835/6441e5cae04dbe5586d06a5f. Slides

  4. H. Zheng*, D. Grossi, and B. Verheij. “Hardness of Case-Based Decisions: A Formal Theory”. In: Proceedings of the Eighteenth International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Law. ACM, New York, 2021, pp. 149–158. DOI: 10.1145/3462757.3466071

  5. H. Zheng*, M. Xiong, and B. Verheij. “Checking the Validity of Rule-Based Arguments Grounded in Cases: A Computational Approach”. In: Legal Knowledge and Information Systems. JURIX 2018: The Thirty-first Annual Conference. Ed. by M. Palmirani. Vol. 313. Amsterdam: IOS Press, 2018, pp. 220–224. DOI: 10.3233/978-1-61499-935-5-220

  6. H. Zheng*, D. Grossi, and B. Verheij. “Precedent Comparison in the Precedent Model Formalism: A Technical Note”. In: Legal Knowledge and Information Systems. Proceedings of JURIX 2020: The Thirty-third Annual Conference. Ed. by S. Villata, J. Harašta, and P. Kšemen. Vol. 334. Amsterdam: IOS Press, 2020, pp. 259–262. DOI: 10.3233/FAIA200878

  7. H. Zheng*, D. Grossi, and B. Verheij. “Case-Based Reasoning with Precedent Models: Preliminary Report”. In: Computational Models of Argument. Proceedings of COMMA 2020. Ed. by H. Prakken, S. Bistarelli, F. Santini, and C. Taticchi. Vol. 326. Amsterdam: IOS Press, 2020, pp. 443–450. DOI: 10.3233/FAIA200528

Peer-reviewed workshop papers

  1. A.-S. Lippolis, A. Klironomos, D. F. Milon-Flores, H. Zheng, A. Jouglar, E. Norouzi, and A. Hogan. “Enhancing Entity Alignment Between Wikidata and ArtGraph Using LLMs”. In: Semantic Web and Ontology Design for Cultural Heritage 2023 (SWODCH 2023). Ed. by A. Bikakis, R. Ferrario, S. Jean, B. Markhoff, A. Mosca, and M. Nicolosi Asmundo. CEUR-WS.org, 2023.

  2. H. Zheng* and J. Schneider. “Can Argumentation Help Understand How Scientific Information Reaches the Public?” In: Information Science Trends (IST) 2023: Information Science Perspectives on Documenting Processes and Practices. Zenodo, June 2023. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.8023747

  3. H. Zheng*, D. Grossi, and B. Verheij. “A Formal Approach to Case Comparison in Case-Based Reasoning: Research Abstract”. In: The First International Workshop on Logics for New-Generation Artificial Intelligence (LNGAI 2021). Ed. by B. Liao, J. Luo, and L. van der Torre. London: College Publications, 2021, pp. 150–153.

  4. H. Zheng, D. Grossi, and B. Verheij. “Logical Comparison of Cases”. en. In: AI Approaches to the Complexity of Legal Systems XI-XII. AICOL AICOL XAILA 2020 2018 2020. Ed. by V. Rodríguez-Doncel, M. Palmirani, M. Araszkiewicz, P. Casanovas, U. Pagallo, and G. Sartor. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Cham: Springer, 2021, pp. 125–140. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-89811-3_9

  5. H. Zheng*, D. Grossi, and B. Verheij. “Precedent Comparison in the Precedent Model Formalism: Theory and Application to Legal Cases”. In: Proceedings of the EXplainable and Responsible AI in Law (XAILA) Workshop at JURIX 2020. Ed. by G. J. Nalepa, M. Araszkiewicz, M. Atzmueller, B. Verheij, and S. Bobek. CEUR-WS.org, 2020.

Other peer-review paper

  1. H. Zheng. “Modeling Case-Based Reasoning with the Precedent Model Formalism: An Overview”. In: Online Handbook of Argumentation for AI. ed. by F. Castagna, F. Mosca, S. Mumford J. Sarkadi, and Á. Xydis. Vol. 2. arXiv, 2021, pp. 72–76.

Book chapter without peer review

  1. H. Zheng and B. Verheij. “Rules, Cases and Arguments in Artificial Intelligence and Law”. In: Research Handbook on Big Data Law. Ed. by R. Vogl. Cheltenham: Edgar Elgar Publishing, 2021, pp. 373–387.

Poster and other publications

  1. X. Zhou, H. Zheng, and J. Schneider. Recognizing people, organizations, and locations mentioned in the news. The 2024 UIUC School of Information Sciences Research Showcase. 2024.

  2. Y. Fu, H. Zheng, E. Vandel, and J. Schneider. Assessing the impact of a computational chemistry protocol. American Chemical Society 2024 Fall Meeting. 2024.

  3. H. Zheng*, Y. Fu, and J. Schneider. How does a piece of unreliable code impact its citing publications? An argumentation analysis. The Thirteenth Conference of the Ontario Society for the Study of Argumentation, OSSA 13. 2024. Slides

  4. H. Zheng*. “Using Argument Graphs to Audit Reasoning in Scientific Publications”. In: Poster at the International Semantic Web Research Summer School. 2023.

Funding

Teaching

Instructor of Record

Guest Lectures

Service

Reviewer - Journal

Reviewer - Conferences

Additional Reviewer - Conferences

Service for the School of Information Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign

Datasets

  1. X. Zhou and H. Zheng. Dataset of news articles from March 10, 2023 to August 1, 2023 mentioning “Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses”. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. 2025. DOI: 10.13012/B2IDB-9749259_V1

  2. H. Zheng and Y. Fu. Dataset of 286 publications citing the 2014 Willoughby-Jansma-Hoye protocol. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 2024. DOI: 10.13012/B2IDB-4610831_V3

  3. H. Zheng and J. Schneider. Dataset for “Arguing about Controversial Science in the News: Does Epistemic Uncertainty Contribute to Information Disorder?”. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 2024. DOI: 10.13012/B2IDB-4781172_V1

Selected Manuscripts

  1. Y. Fu, H. Zheng, M.J. Sarol, I. Sarraf, and J. Schneider. PROTOCOL: Annotation by chemistry expert #2 for Addressing Unreliability Propagation in Scientific Digital Libraries. 2024. URL: https://hdl.handle.net/2142/123380

  2. J. Schneider, J. Lee, H. Zheng, M. Salami. Supplement for Assessing the agreement in retraction indexing across 4 multidisciplinary sources: Crossref, Retraction Watch, Scopus, and Web of Science. 2023. URL: https://hdl.handle.net/2142/120613

Education

2024: Ph.D. in Artificial Intelligence, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
- Dissertation Title: Arguments, Cases and Their Hardness: A Formal Theory With Case Studies in AI and Law.
- Supervisors: Bart Verheij and Davide Grossi

2018: Master of Logic, Sun Yat-sen University, China
- Supervisors: Minghui Xiong and Bart Verheij

2016: Bachelor of Information Management and Information Systems, Dalian Maritime University, China