Citing a rejected paper in related work A paper was uploaded to Arxiv that is very similar to my research. I cited it in the related work section of the paper I am currently working on. I was planning on noting the shortcomings of this Arxiv paper when a few days later I found that it was rejected from the conference via openreview. My questions are:


Should I leave this citation in?
Should I say that it has been rejected?
Should the knowledge of the rejection change the way I talk about the paper?


This is the first time something like this has happened to me, so not sure how I should approach this.
Should I leave this citation in?


Definitely. A paper on arxiv is still related work regardless of its submission/acceptance status.


  Should I say that it has been rejected?


No. That seems inappropriate. The paper may soon be accepted elsewhere in which case your comment about rejection will be outdated.

Just cite it like you would any other paper. If you want, your bibliography could link to the openreview page where people could see the reviews and decision.


  Should the knowledge of the rejection change the way I talk about the paper?


Not really. Perhaps the reviews include some useful information. Otherwise treat it like any other paper.