As an important coastal ecosystem, oyster reef provides many ecosystem service functions, such as water purification and habitat provision. To understand the present stitutation and hotspots of oyster reef research at home and abroad, Web of Science Core Collection and China National Knowledge Infrastructure database were selected as data sources in this study. The research hotspots and trends of oyster reef studies were identified from the perspectives of the trend analysis of domestic and international publications, high-frequency keyword analysis, keyword co-occurrence analysis, cluster analysis, and time evolution of theme. Results showed that: (1) the oyster reef research publications at home and abroad showed an overall upward trend, but the growth rate of domestic research was lower than that of international research; (2) The oyster reef ecological restoration study was a common focus of publications at home and aboard, but studies were conducted relatively late at home; (3) In addition, international researches of oyster reef paid more attention to ecosystem services, climate change, etc., while researches at home mainly focused on studies from the perspective of geology; (4) In recent years, climate change has become a new hotspot of international oyster reef research, but little attention was paid in China. This research will provide reference for understanding the current research status and development trend of oyster reef studies. This results will also offer information for making policies and conducting researches of the protection and restoration of oyster reefs in our country.