Rare earth elements(REEs) in geological samples are of great interest,mainly because they might be considered as a primary source with the potential to resolve the global REEs supply shortage.This paper describes a method for the determination of REEs in geological samples by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry(ICP-MS).Samples were dissolved using distilled HNO3 and HF during microwave digestion process,in which HNO3 was added after acid-drying.The whole process was safe and efficient without any loss.In addition,the use of ICP-MS could effectively eliminate the interference of polyatomic ions.After optimizing the instrument parameters,the internal standard element rhodium(Rh) was used to compensate for matrix suppression effect and sensitivity drift so that the results were more accurate.The method was applied in the determination of REEs in the National Geochemistry Standard Reference Materials(GBW07109,GBW07110 and GBW07111).The determined values are in good agreement with the certified values.The results show that this method has the advantages of simplicity,rapidness, low detection limit and high accuracy，and could be used for the detection of many different elements at the same time．