Social Ecological System ( SES) is the core and highlight of the global change research and sustainability science. Based on Science Citation Index Expanded Database and China National Knowledge Infrastructure, the situation of social ecological system research was analyzed via bibliometrics from 1980 to 2017. The results indicated that: ①The scientific outcomes of social ecological system research are increasing gradually. The developed countries have greatly contributed to it,such as,Sweden and the USA,the leading countries in this field,and Stockholm University is the dominant institution on publication of SES. Cooperation between countries ( regions) and institutions is strengthening gradually. ② China is one of the frontier countries in the social ecological system research with a lower increasing speed,its international cooperation and the citation frequency of publications are relatively low,and its international influence should be strengthened in the future. ③ The research highlights are listed as follows: The synergy between social ecological system integrity and social development needs,the complexity and uncertainty of SES,the mechanism between social system and its environmental factors,etc. In addition, under the stress of human activity and global climate change,the research of response and feedback mechanism of SES and policy decision-making are one of the important topics of SES.