【Objective】Grasslands cover approximately 40.5% of the Earth’s terrestrial surface and play a crucial role in maintaining the global carbon cycle and regulating climate change. However, with the intensification of human activity and the growing impacts of climate change, grassland ecosystems are experiencing varying degrees of degradation worldwide, leading to a decline in grassland soil quality. Although numerous studies have examined changes in grassland soil quality and their influencing factors across regions and over time, bibliometric analyses exploring the research trajectory and development trends in this field remain limited.【Method】To fill this gap, the present study conducted a bibliometric analysis of 8 089 articles published between 1990 and 2022 in the Science Citation Index Expanded database of Web of Science. The literature retrieval was based on the research topic “TS?=?(grassland) OR TS?=?(rangeland) OR TS?=?(meadow) OR TS?=?(savanna) OR TS?=?(steppe) OR TS?=?(prairie) OR TS?=?(pasture) OR TS?=?(grazing land) AND TS?=?(soil quality)”, and the retrieval period was set from January 1, 1990 to December 31, 2022. The analysis was conducted using the Bibliometrix package in R 3.6.3, VOSviewer 1.6.20, and CiteSpace 5.7.R1 software, focusing on annual publication trends, evolving research themes, international collaboration networks, core contributing authors, and leading journals. In addition, CiteSpace 5.7.R1 was used to perform co-citation analysis and thematic clustering on the 8 089 published articles. The results were visualized using ArcGIS 10.6 and Scimago Graphica 1.0.43.【Result】The results revealed that: (1) The total number of publications on “grassland soil quality” has steadily increased from 1990 to 2022, and the development of the field can be divided into three phases, including the initial stage (1990-2005), the rapid development stage (2006-2010), and the increasing maturity stage (2011-2022); (2) The research hotspots of “grassland soil quality” have shifted from “the impact of soil carbon on grassland soil quality” to “the effects of human activities on grassland soil quality”, and the focal research regions have shifted from “areas with sustainable livestock development and relatively high soil quality” to “areas with severe grassland degradation and poor soil quality”; (3) The grassland soil quality research predominantly encompasses establishing assessment indicator frameworks, analyzing driving factors or key processes, and clarifying assessment purposes and ecological significance. Currently, global studies of grassland soil quality have transitioned from analyzing spatio-temporal patterns to exploring the underlying microscopic mechanisms; (4) The United States and the People’s Republic of China hold leading positions in this field, with extensive global collaboration; (5) Richard D. Bardgett has the highest average citation frequency among researchers, Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment has the highest number of publications, while Soil Biology & Biochemistry is the most frequently cited journal. 【Conclusion】This study elucidates the historical development and current status of research on grassland soil quality, which provides data-driven support for advancing global research on grassland soil quality, enhancing regional grassland management practices, and improving the resilience of grassland ecosystems.