The exertion for carrying out the substitution of Fe3+ ion in CoFe2O4 spinel by Y3+ and Gd3+ ions has been put forth in the present article. Y or Gd containing CoFe2O4 nanocrystalline films with average particles size of 65 nm were synthesized by sol-gel method, and then the magnetic properties of the products were investigated at room temperature. To improve the crystallization of Gd-doped cobalt spinels, we buffered them on about a 20-nm-thick CoFe2O4 thin film. However, the analysis on the results for both x-ray diffraction and magnetic measurement showed that it is difficult to perform the doping of Y3+ ions inside cobalt spinel ferrite. The proper doping amount of magnetic Gd3+ ion can enlarge saturation magnetization (M-s ) and coercive force (H-c)of resultant nanocrystalline films, whereas the doping of Y only reduces them. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(98)06022-8].