Nitrogen, as a limited nutrient in Karst rocky desertification areas, is of great significance in terms of ecological restoration measures and social and economic development. Based on the China national knowledge infrastructure and the Web of Science Core Collection, the current literature on soil nitrogen in Karst rocky desertification areas was reviewed and organized, and CiteSpace, a reference analysis tool, was used to visually present and analyse this research. The countries, institutions, authors, keywords and research hotspots in this field were reviewed, and the current status and trends in the evolution of related research were summarized.