Maps of random walks on complex networks reveal community structure

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008 Jan 29;105(4):1118-23. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0706851105. Epub 2008 Jan 23.

Abstract

To comprehend the multipartite organization of large-scale biological and social systems, we introduce an information theoretic approach that reveals community structure in weighted and directed networks. We use the probability flow of random walks on a network as a proxy for information flows in the real system and decompose the network into modules by compressing a description of the probability flow. The result is a map that both simplifies and highlights the regularities in the structure and their relationships. We illustrate the method by making a map of scientific communication as captured in the citation patterns of >6,000 journals. We discover a multicentric organization with fields that vary dramatically in size and degree of integration into the network of science. Along the backbone of the network-including physics, chemistry, molecular biology, and medicine-information flows bidirectionally, but the map reveals a directional pattern of citation from the applied fields to the basic sciences.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Bibliometrics*
  • Biomedical Research / instrumentation
  • Biomedical Research / methods*
  • Biomedical Research / statistics & numerical data
  • Information Theory*
  • Markov Chains
  • Periodicals as Topic*
  • Science / instrumentation
  • Science / methods*
  • Science / statistics & numerical data