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OBJECTIVE: To apply cluster coefficient (CC) to the pattern of international author collaborations on the topic of addiction and clinical research using data from Medline and to visualize the results using Google maps and social network analysis (SNA). METHOD: We obtained 647 abstracts on December 22, 2017, from Medline based on the keywords of addiction and clinical research since 1989. The author names, countries, and keywords were recorded. We also made a note of the following features: (1) nation distribution for 1st author’s and most popular journals; (2) eminent authors in addiction and clinical research, (3) notable keywords representing addiction and clinical research, and (4) cluster coefficients similar or different between author and keyword networks. We programmed Microsoft Excel VBA routines to extract data from Medline. Google Maps and SNA Pajek software were performed to display the graphical representations with an easy-to-read feature for readers. RESULTS: We found that (1) the most number of papers on the topic of addiction and clinical research are from the U.S. (225, 37.19%) and Australia (86,14.21%); (2) the productive authors with the highest cluster coefficient in addiction and clinical research are Abe, Yoshinari(Canada) and Agid, Ofer(Japan); (3) the most linked keywords are clinical research and drug addiction; (4) both author and keyword networks present higher CC in their networks. CONCLUSION: Social network analysis provides wide and deep insight into the relationships among nations and co-authors. The results can provide readers with knowledge and concept diagram for future submission to a journal in addiction and clinical research.
