【Objective】 With the rapid development of industrialization and urbanization, heavy metal pollution in soil has attracted worldwide attention. Natural soil colloids, as well as engineered nanoparticles introduced into soil by direct or indirect pathways, play an important role in the migration and bioavailability of heavy metals. However, there is a lack of research on the current status and frontier trends of soil colloids' effect on the behavior of heavy metals. 【Method】 Based on the Web of Science(WoS) core collection database, a bibliometric study on the effect of soil colloids on the behavior of heavy metals during 1990-2021 was carried out using analysis tools self-provided by WoS, HisCite citation analysis software, VOSviewer and Citespace visual analysis software. 【Result】 Results indicated that the number of publications increased steadily year by year worldwide, with an average increase of two publications per year. The research in this field started late in China but it showed a momentum of rapid development in recent years which may be due to a series of important measures for soil pollution control implemented in China. The countries and research institutions with the most publications in this field were the United States and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, respectively. Environmental Science & Technology was the most published journal. The major subjects involved in this field were the intersection of environmental sciences and ecology. The results of keywords cluster analysis indicated that "particle size fractionation and heavy metal speciation distribution of soil colloids", "release, deposition of soil colloids and adsorption of heavy metals" and "migration mechanism and migration model of soil colloids" were the dominating research topics. Also, the first dominating research topic tended to describe the state of distribution and morphology of heavy metals in soil with different particle sizes. Furthermore, the second and third dominating research topics tended to focus on the dynamic process of release, migration and deposition of soil colloids, the binding effect of soil colloids on heavy metals and their cooperative transport behavior. The current research hotspot involves the study of the behavior, migration, transformation and bioavailability of engineered nanoparticles in soil using advanced characterization techniques such as field flow-fractionation technology. 【Conclusion】 These results provide important insights into the research direction, growing trend and research hotspots in the field of soil colloids affecting the behavior of heavy metals. In the future, it should be prioritized that the application of field-flow fractionation technology combined with single particle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry or other technologies to further study the complex interaction between soil colloids and engineering nanoparticles. Also, the influence on the migration and environmental fate of engineered nanoparticles is expected to be a future research direction.