Abstract: The global research trends in soil pollution were analyzed with the help of bibliometrics with scientific papers on soil pollution in the Web of Science database and its extended database from 2000 to 2019 as the research objects. The findings suggest that the number of published papers worldwide is generally increasing year by year. The number of papers by the United States and China in this field is ahead of other countries and regions around the world, accounting for 19.70% and 18.93% of the total number, respectively. The Chinese Academy of Sciences boasts the largest number of papers, while Zhejiang University ranks fifth with 1,598 papers. Chinese researchers have the most highly cited papers in the world, 11 of top 20, of which three are from Hunan University. As heavy metals have become one of the major contaminants in porous soil systems, the future hot spots for soil remediation will focus on phytoremediation, microbial remediation, inorganic mineral remediation, and joint repair technologies.

Key words: soil pollution, bibliometrics, Web of Science, research trends, site remediation