We present, as a very general method, an effective field theory to analyze models defined over small-world networks. Even if the exactness of the method is limited to the paramagnetic regions and to some special limits, it gives the exact critical behavior and the exact critical surfaces and percolation thresholds, and provide a clear and immediate (also in terms of calculation) insight of the physics. The underlying structure of the non random part of the model, i.e., the set of spins staying in a given lattice L_0 of dimension d_0 and interacting through a fixed coupling J_0, is exactly taken into account. When J_0geq 0, the small-world effect gives rise to the known fact that a second order phase transition takes place, independently of the dimension d_0 and of the added random connectivity c. However, when J_0<0, a completely different scenario emerges where, besides a spin glass transition, multiple first- and second-order phase transitions may take place.
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