This is a very quick post just to share a quick tip on how to add non overlapping labels to a scatterplot in ggplot using a great package called directlabels. The trick is to make each point a single member group using an aesthetic like colour and then apply the direct.label function with the first.qp method. Some example code and output is below

library(ggplot2)
library(directlabels)
x<-runif(10)
y<-rnorm(10)
z<-as.character(midwest$county[1:10])
q<-qplot(x,y)+geom_point(aes(colour=z))
direct.label(q, first.qp)

If there are better ways then I’d love to know but it works well for me and has the added advantage that the labels are matched to the points by colour.