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In order to understand the course of research on antibiotics in the soil, the theoretical foundation of the research progress was developed using knowledge mapping analysis of available literature. In this study, we used the CiteSpace software to perform a metric and visual analysis of the progress of research on antibiotics in the soil, based on literature sources from the Web of Science database in the period from 1941 to 2018. The results showed that the study of antibiotics in the soil had three stages: The initial exploration period from 1941-1989, steady development period from 1990-2002, and rapid growth period from 2003-2018. The research on antibiotics in soil had been addressed in multidisciplinary fields and innovative follow-up research was found to require cross-disciplinary cooperation. A group of core authors in the research on antibiotics in the soil had already been formed, and the largest amount of literature on antibiotics in the soil was published by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The greatest influence was observed in the reports by researchers from the United States and Germany. The research on the type and residue level of antibiotics in the soil, simulation of environmental behaviors, and ecological toxicity control of antibiotics in the soil and resistance genes were the main aims of research in this field. Some problems with antibiotics in soil research still exist and need to be addressed. In order to prevent a series of ecological and human health problems caused by the excessive use of antibiotics, it has been suggested that studying antibiotics in the soil should be emphasized in soil research, and future studies need to focus on combining innovative methods and technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]