A novel approach of many-objective particle swarm optimization with cooperative agents based on an inverted generational distance indicator

•The IGD indicator is employed as selection criteria to face the challenge of the large ratio of non-dominated solutions that exist in MaPs.•A multi-agent system is used to model the intelligent behavior of multi-swarms.•A new strategy of knowledge sharing based on automated negotiation is proposed.•Empirical studies demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm in solving MaOPs.