Delineation and analysis of co-authorship network among the academics of School of Dentistry in Kerman University of Medical Sciences in 2013 using network analysis method

BACKGROUND AND AIM: This study aims to explore the co-authorship in School of Dentistry at Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Iran, in three levels; individuals, other schools of KUU, and beyond the university.METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study which is a part of a larger study conducted from September 2014 to December 2014. A comprehensive search in Scopus was conducted to find related articles published in 2013 by following these steps; first of all, a complete list of all faculties, based on the school and the department they worked in, was obtained. Second, all articles indexed with the affiliation of KMU were retrieved, using both keywords of “Kerman Medical University” and KUM Sciences.” The data were analyzed using Social Network Analysis and Visone software.RESULTS: The results showed an inadequate collaboration within departments; only two of them had collaboration. Co-authorship among departments illustrated a more satisfactory picture: although, it still has more rooms for improvement. Regarding collaboration between the Dentistry School and other schools of the university, the School of Dentistry is in a middle position, though it could have had more potential relationships. The School of Dentistry formed a few relationships with the organizations outside of the university.CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that there are more rooms for improvement in the field of collaboration and co-authoring papers, which could consequently not only lead to a higher rate of publication and visibility but also affect the citation rates for authors.