Abstract: 【Purpose/significance】This paper aims to understand the application of qualitative research methods in archival science,pro⁃mote the "scientization" of archival research,improve and reflect on our own methodology system,which will be conducive to the inte⁃gration of library science,information science and archival science【. Method/process】Based on two CSSCI journals of archival science,a content analysis coding table is constructed for manual coding and analysis.【Result/conclusion】The results show that:① the case study and historical research method dominant the qualitative research method system of archival science, and a single research method is the most widely used;②the application process of various qualitative research methods is diverse and internally unbalanced;③qualitative research topics are various,some of which have corresponding relationships with research methods;④the practical contri⁃
bution of the research on phenomenon description and countermeasures and suggestions is prominent,while the theoretical contribution is insufficient.On this basis,the research enlightenments are put forward from method system construction and discipline integration.【Innovation/limitation】The content analysis method is used to systematically sort out the application of qualitative research methods in the two CSSCI journals of archival science,but the sample size and sample selection scope need to be expanded.