Hierarchical Classification

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Overview

Hierarchical classification studies how models can use label taxonomies to make predictions that are useful at both coarse and fine levels. Common approaches add hierarchy-aware losses, separate prediction heads, graph or geometric label representations, and coarse-to-fine decision procedures to standard classifiers. These methods are used in settings such as medical diagnosis, image and text recognition, and large code or species taxonomies, where errors between nearby classes may be less serious than errors across broad groups. Open challenges include preventing early mistakes from cascading, handling incomplete or shifting labels, and balancing fine-grained accuracy with consistency, calibration, and safe fallback to broader categories.

Latest papers

CardsList

89 papers7 papers in the last four weeks, level with the four weeks before. 0.0% of all new papers.

  1. A Hierarchical Method for Environmental Sounds Recognition in Complex Acoustic Scenes

    Oct 26, 2026Zhouwen Li, Haijun Lin, Bowen Lv +1Audio ClassificationHierarchical Classification

    Hunan Normal University School of Engineering and Design Changsha, China

  2. MYOPIA: Understanding the Limits of Tree-Based Reasoning in Vision-Language Models

    Oct 15, 2026Islam Mesabah, Sary Elmansoury, Gerrit Großmann +2VLM ReasoningVLM Evaluation

    German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), Kaiserslautern, Germany

  3. CHEAR: Confusion-Hierarchy Evidence-Aware Reasoning for Cost-Efficient Human Activity Recognition

    Oct 11, 2026Xiangqing Lu, Tao Zhu, Mingxing Nie +1Human Activity RecognitionWearable Sensing

  4. OntoAR-HAR: Ontology-Guided Agentic RAG with Personalized Memory for Human Activity Recognition

    Oct 11, 2026Xiangqing Lu, Tao Zhu, Liang Yu +6Human Activity RecognitionRetrieval-Augmented Classification

    School of Computer Science, University of South China, Hengyang, China · School of Computer Science and Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China · Hunan University, Changsha, China +1

  5. Multi-Crop Leaf Disease Recognition: A Unified Benchmark and Cross-Region Study

    Oct 3, 2026Rosemary Nalwanga, Sebastian Bunda, Godliver Owomugisha +2Plant Disease ClassificationCross-Domain Generalization

    Data Management and Biometrics University of Twente Enschede, Netherlands · Department of Computer Engineering Busitema University Tororo, Uganda

  6. GeoGAT: Bidirectional Temporal Sampling Meets Hierarchical Graph Attention for Global Video Geo-localization

    Sep 30, 2026Junchao Cui, Xuanzi Ma, Wenqi Shi +4Hierarchical Classification

    Information Engineering University, Zhengzhou, China · Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China

  7. Hierarchical Utility Calibration for Structured Multiclass Decisions

    Sep 29, 2026Futoshi Futami, Jerry Huang, Ichiro TakeuchiProbability CalibrationMulticlass Classification

    The University of Osaka · The University of Tokyo · RIKEN Center for Advanced Intelligence Project (AIP) +3

  8. Evaluating Hierarchy-Aware Deep Learning for the Recognition of Tironian Notes

    Sep 28, 2026Yule Kang, Thomas Gorges, Janne van der Loop +4Hierarchical ClassificationOptical Character Recognition

    Pattern Recognition Lab, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany · Buchwissenschaft, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Germany · Abteilung Handschriften und Historische Drucke, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Germany +1

  9. CFCH: Coarse-Fine Collaborative Hierarchical Learning for Anterior Segment Disease Analysis

    Sep 26, 2026Peng Wang, Haohan Zou, Yanlin Wu +3Hierarchical ClassificationMedical Image Classification

    College of Cryptology and Cyber Science Nankai University, Tianjin, China · College of Engineering Yanbian University, Yanji, China · College of Computer Science Nankai University, Tianjin, China +3

  10. Beyond Keywords: Leveraging Generative LLMs and Label Aggregation to Classify Economic Policy Uncertainty in News Articles

    Sep 25, 2026Paul TrustHierarchical ClassificationText Classification

  11. AraGenre 2026: A Hierarchical Definition-Guided Arabic Genre Classification Shared Task

    Sep 23, 2026Mo El-Haj, Saad Ezzini, Shadi Abudalfa +3Hierarchical ClassificationArabic NLP

    VinUniversity, Vietnam · Lancaster University, UK · King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia +3

  12. Hierarchical Prompt Learning for Hyperbolic Vision-Language Models

    Sep 21, 2026Andro Erdelez, Pascal Mettes, Behzad BozorgtabarVLM AdaptationVision-Language Models

    Aarhus University · University of Amsterdam

  13. Signal-Informed Temporal Routing for Vinyl Defect Regime Detection

    Sep 19, 2026Yi-Hung Kan, Homayoon BeigiFault DetectionAudio Editing

    Nonlinear Control Laboratory, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA · Recognition Technologies, Inc., South Salem, NY, USA

  14. HemaHier: Chain-Conditioned Ordinal Hierarchies for Lineage-Aware Bone-Marrow Cytology

    Sep 11, 2026Afshin Bozorgpour, Peter Schüffler, Edgar Jost +1Computational PathologyHierarchical Classification

    Faculty of Informatics and Data Science, University of Regensburg, Germany · Institute of Pathology, TUM School of Medicine and Health, Technical University of Munich, Germany · Munich Center for Machine Learning, Germany +4

  15. Deep learning from the crowd Fundamentals of morphological galaxy classification

    Sep 6, 2026Luis Enrique Sucar, Carlos del Burgo, Jonathan Serrano-PérezHierarchical ClassificationConvolutional Neural Networks

    Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Vía Láctea S/N, La Laguna 38200, Tenerife, Spain · Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica, Luis Enrique Erro #1, CP 72840, Tonantzintla, Puebla, Mexico · Departamento de Astrofísica, Universidad de la Laguna, La Laguna 38200, Tenerife, Spain +1

  16. Hierarchical Channel Stacking: A Structured Decision Framework for AI-Generated Image Detection

    Aug 27, 2026Saifullah Shoaib, Akash Borigi, Rupendra Lekkala +5Hierarchical ClassificationExplainable Image Classification

    Missouri University of Science & Technology, Rolla MO 65409, USA · University of Houston, Houston TX 77479, USA · Aug Cranium AI, Inc., Short Hills NJ 07078, USA

  17. Hyperbolic Latent Geometry for Tree-Structured Prototype Networks: A Local-vs-Global Trade-off

    Aug 25, 2026Peter Flo, Luca GrossmannLatent Space GeometryNeural Representation Geometry

    Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.

  18. Hierarchy-Aware Supervised Uncertainty Estimation for Black-box LLM Taxonomic Reasoning

    Aug 24, 2026Shuting Xie, Nathaniel Lesperance, Graham W. TaylorBiodiversity MonitoringUncertainty Quantification

    Vector Institute for AI, Toronto, ON · University of Guelph, Guelph, ON

  19. ChiroEcho: extending automated bat vocalisation classification beyond the learned taxonomy

    Aug 18, 2026Burooj Ghani, Welmoed Eversteijn, Milan van Hirtum +4ClassificationBioacoustics

    Naturalis Biodiversity Center · Department of Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence, Tilburg University · People and Nature Lab, University College London +1

  20. H2^2EDL: Hyper Evidential Deep Learning for Hierarchical Classification

    Aug 18, 2026Yuanye Liu, Xiahai ZhuangHierarchical ClassificationEvidential Deep Learning

    School of Data Science, Fudan University

  21. TEAMMix: Taxonomy Enrichment Augmentation and Minority-augmented Mixing Strategy for LLM-enhanced Weak-Supervised Hierarchical Text Classification

    Aug 11, 2026Jian Zhang, Zhuohao Yang, Songlin Lei +6Class-Imbalanced LearningHierarchical Classification

    School of Computer Science and Technology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China · ZJU-UIUC Institute, Zhejiang University, Haining, China · Shaoxing K3i Technology Co. Ltd +1

  22. Label Granularity Skew in Federated Learning with Hierarchical Image Classification

    Aug 10, 2026Jaeheon Kim, Hokeun Kim, Bong Jun ChoiHierarchical ClassificationFederated Fine-Tuning

    School of Computer Science and Engineering, Soongsil University, Seoul, Republic of Korea · School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, Arizona State University, Tempe, United States

  23. Calling the Bluff: Detecting Ever-Shifting Harmful Chat Dialogue via Ordered Reasoning Chain Regularization

    Aug 9, 2026Haojie Yu, Ziyou Jiang, Dandan Wang +6Hierarchical ClassificationLanguage Model Safety Evaluation

    State Key Laboratory of Complex System Modeling and Simulation Technology, Beijing, China · Science and Technology on Integrated Information System Laboratory Institute of Software Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China · University of Chinese Academy of Sciences

  24. SCALE: Scientific Concept Aggregation via LLMs and Embeddings for Fine-Grained Taxonomy Extension

    Aug 7, 2026Daniele Raimondi, Feichi Lu, Oliver Grun +2Hierarchical ClassificationKnowledge Representation

    MDPI Data Intelligence Team, MDPI AG, Grosspeteranlage 5, CH-4052 Basel, Switzerland

  25. Open-World Hierarchical Perception: Taxonomic Abstraction over Class-Agnostic Proposals for the Safe Handling of Out-of-Vocabulary Road Objects

    Aug 4, 2026Felix SchallerOpen-Vocabulary Object DetectionHierarchical Classification

    Dubai, UAE / Munich, Germany

  26. Clinically-Grounded Hierarchical Classification for Consistent Chest X-ray Interpretation

    Aug 4, 2026Jong Hak Moon, Minjun Kim, Minjun KimHierarchical ClassificationChest X-Ray Classification

    Yeji X, Seoul, South Korea

  27. Deep learning-based hierarchical insect classification using camera trap imagery

    Jul 30, 2026Zaki Mahfoud, Juan A. Chiavassa, Simon Walther +2Hierarchical ClassificationWildlife Monitoring

    Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences, Department of Sustainable Agriculture and Energy Systems, Professorship of Smart Farming, Am Staudengarten 1, 85354 Freising, Germany · Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences, Institute for Biomass Research, Neuseser Str. 1, 91732 Merkendorf, Germany · Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences, Department of Sustainable Agriculture and Energy Systems, Professorship of Digital Farm Management, Am Staudengarten 1, 85354 Freising, Germany

  28. FlexiGrad: Adaptive Gradient Modulation for Hierarchical Fine-Grained Classification

    Jul 20, 2026Zilu Zhou, Dongliang Chang, Junhan Chen +1Hierarchical ClassificationGradient Interference

    Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing 100876, China · Beijing Key Laboratory of Multimodal Data Intelligent Perception and Governance, Beijing 100876, China

  29. Hierarchy-Aware and Anatomy-Guided Learning for Lung Ultrasound Video Classification

    Jul 20, 2026Alya Almsouti, Lotfi Mecharbat, Noha Aboukhater +5Hierarchical ClassificationMedical Image Classification

    Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence, UAE · SEHA, UAE · Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, UAE +2

  30. Hierarchical Specialised Ensembles for Classification of Zebrafish Phenotypes Using the Selected Image Recognition Methods

    Jul 17, 2026Piotr S. Maciąg, Monika Maciąg, Magdalena MajdanHierarchical ClassificationMulti-Label Classification

    Institute of Computer Science, Warsaw University of Technology, Nowowiejska 15/19, 00-665 Warsaw, Poland · Laboratory of Neuronal Plasticity, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland · Laboratory of Behavioral Studies, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland +1