Bismuth layered structure ferroelectric thin films, $Bi_4$$Ti_3$$O_{12}$ / (BTO) and Nb-doped BTO (BTN) were prepared on the Pt(111)/Ti/$SiO_2$/Si(100) substrates by a sol-gel route. We investigated the Nb-doping effect on the grain orientation and ferroelectric properties. $Nb^{5＋}$ ion substitution for $Ti^{4＋}$ ion in perovskite layers of BTO decreased the degree of c-axis orientation and increased the remanent polarization (2Pr). The fatigue resistance of Nb-doped BTO thin film was shown to be superior to that of BTO, and the leakage current of Nb-doped BTO thin film was decreased about 1 order of magnitude compared with BTO. The improvement of ferroelectric properties with $Nb^{5＋}$ doping in BTO could be attributed to the changes in space charge densities and grain orientation in the thin film.