Bibliometric analysis are used by scientists around the world to understand the evolution and scientific contribution of a given area of knowledge, thus mapping the science produced and determining the trend in research topics. This article presents a bibliometric analysis of the performance and evolution of scientific research on soil science conducted in Brazil during the period 1989–2018, based on papers published in journals indexed in the Web of Science. According to this survey, Brazil currently occupies the 9th place in the global ranking of scientific production on soil science in the world, being responsible for 4.1% of the total published papers. Considering only the last decade (2009–2018), however, Brazil is at the 5th place in global ranking, with 5.2% of the total published papers (n = 19,216). The Brazilian institutions that contributed most to the set of publications on soil science were Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation) (17.4%), followed by Universidade de São Paulo - USP (University of São Paulo) (15.4%), and Universidade do Estado de São Paulo - UNESP (São Paulo State University) (9.8%). The most commonly studied themes were “plant growth” (n = 1,649) and “nitrogen” (n = 1,222). In the last decade, however, owing to the importance given to climate change, studies considering the soil as a carbon reservoir (soil organic matter) have intensified. In general, the set of Brazilian publications on soil science can be divided into four main fields: a) chemistry of tropical soils, b) soil physical quality, c) biological nitrogen fixation, and d) soil organic matter dynamics. The USA was the country with the greatest scientific collaboration with Brazilian soil scientists. However, scientific cooperation between Brazil and Latin American countries was low. These results provide a basis for implementing new research projects and scientific collaborations that contribute to the development of soil science research in Brazil.

全世界的科学家使用文献计量分析来了解给定知识领域的发展和科学贡献，从而绘制出所产生的科学并确定研究主题的趋势。本文根据在Web of Science上收录的期刊上发表的论文，对1989年至2018年期间在巴西进行的土壤科学研究的性能和演变进行了文献计量分析。根据这项调查，巴西目前在全球土壤科学科学生产排名中排名第9位，占已发表论文总数的4.1％。但是，仅考虑最近十年（2009-2018年），巴西在全球排名中排名第五，占已发表论文总数的5.2％（n = 19,216）。巴西在土壤科学方面贡献最大的机构是巴西农业研究公司（Empresa Brasileira de PesquisaAgropecuária）（17.4％），其后是圣保罗大学-USP（圣保罗大学）（15.4％），和圣保罗州立大学-UNESP（圣保罗州立大学）（9.8％）。最常研究的主题是“植物生长”（n = 1,649）和“氮”（n = 1,222）。然而，在过去的十年中，由于对气候变化的重视，关于土壤作为碳储集层（土壤有机质）的研究得到了加强。总体而言，巴西有关土壤科学的出版物集可分为四个主要领域：a）热带土壤化学，b）土壤物理质量，c）生物固氮和d）土壤有机质动力学。美国是与巴西土壤科学家合作最多的国家。但是，巴西与拉丁美洲国家之间的科学合作很少。这些结果为开展新的研究项目和开展科学合作提供了基础，这些新项目和科学合作为巴西土壤科学研究的发展做出了贡献。