Abstract

Drug addiction or substance use disorder is continuously observed worldwide for its risks and prevalence. In this context, numerous studies have been conducted regarding this issue. However, bibliometric analysis related to drug addiction is insufficient. In particular, it is difficult to find research that utilizes a macro-level bibliographic approach that comprehensively reflects various characteristics related to drug addiction. In this study, to reflect the multidimensional features of drug addiction, research trends in drug addiction in social science, natural science, and multidisciplinary studies were compared and analyzed. This study collected drug addiction research articles from 2002 to 2021 by searching from the Web of Science, and classified academic disciplines based on SCI(E) and SSCI information. Author keyword co-occurrence analysis was also conducted, which provided confirmation that natural science mainly studied psychoactive substances and the reward system in the brain, while drug addiction studies reflecting demographic characteristics were conducted in the domain of social science. In the multidisciplinary field, all of the above topics were covered. Author co-citation analysis was also employed, which showed that there are superstars (i.e., authors who receive a rigorous amount of citation) in the field of natural science, while in the social science domain, authors were highly cited not only at the individual level but also at the institutional level.