title: How to perform approximate (fuzzy) name matching in R
body: <p>I have a large data set, dedicated to biological journals, which was being composed for a long time by different people. So, the data are not in a single format. For example, in the column "AUTHOR" I can find John Smith, Smith John, Smith J and so on while it is the same person. I can not perform even the simplest actions. For example, I can't figure out what authors wrote the most articles.</p>
  
  <p>Is there any way in R to determine if the majority of symbols in the different names is the same, take them as the same elements?</p>