Abstract: Based on publications in Web of ScienceTM in 1985-2015, the rare earth research area was visualized by knowledge mapping tools -Sci² Tool and VOSviewer. First, the knowledge base was explored through references co-citation analysis; secondly, the research fronts were analyzed through word co-occurrence analysis; lastly, the research trend was researched through burst detection analysis. The results indicate that China and Chinese Academy Sciences have the most publications in the view of the countries and institutions respectively. The references co-citation analysis by VOSviewer helps figure out that there are 3 clusters of cited references in rare earth research area; then the density cluster mapping of word co-occurrence network by VOSviewer displays that there are 5 clusters focused on the topics of rare earth luminescence materials, rare earth permanent magnetic materials, rare earth hydrogen absorbing materials, rare earth compounds and chemical synthesis; the burst detection by Sci² Tool finds the top word bursts like rare earth compounds and phosphors.