It is important to understand the research trends and hotspots of global soil nutrient migration and control. Based on the core collection of WOS (Web of Science), citespace knowledge map analysis tool was used to analyze the number of publications, cooperation networks, disciplines, research hotspots and frontier trends on nutrient migration in soil. The results showed that: the number of publications on the study of soil nutrient migration showed a good growth from 1990 to 2021. 173 countries had cooperative relationships. The number of articles published in the United States and China was significantly higher than that in other countries, while Chinese Academy of Sciences was the institution with the largest number of publications. It was a comprehensive system that permeates with agriculture, environmental science, botany and other disciplines. The research of nutrient migration in soil mainly focused on the measures of microbial community in different land types to promote nutrient transformation, improve soil fertility and reduce nutrient loss. In the future, the research trends will be the management measures of soil nutrient loss, the relationship between the change of soil nutrient and plant community diversity, and the remediation of agricultural contaminated soil. Through the above analysis, there was an overall understanding of soil nutrient migration. The research on nutrient migration may continue to increase in the future. It is suggested that Chinese research institutions, teams and universities need to strengthen international cooperation, and speed up their integration with the international community.