Abstract: 【Purpose/significance】The purpose of this study is to systematically analyze the relevant research results cited by scien⁃ tific data in China, summarize the current research progress and future development direction in this field, and provide reference for subsequent research and practical development【. Method/process】Using literature investigation method and content analysis method, the literature was coded and analyzed from three dimensions of research object, research method and research topic, and then the re⁃ search status of scientific data citation norms, citation behavior, related technology and service practice was sorted out, and an integrated research framework was constructed【. Result/conclusion】Chinese scholars focus on the investigation of citation norms and the analysis of citation behavior, the research objects are mainly journal papers, paying less attention to scientific data sets, and the research meth⁃ ods are mainly network survey method. On the whole, there is still a certain gap between China′s scientific data citation field and foreign developed countries in the depth and breadth of research. Based on this, this paper puts forward suggestions to improve the reference re⁃ search of scientific data from three aspects: broadening the research object, enriching the research methods and strengthening relevant technologies and applied research, in order to provide reference for subsequent research.【Innovation/limitation】The content analysis method is used to analyze and summarize the research status in the field of scientific data reference. In the future, the scope of sample se⁃ lection should be further expanded, and machine learning and other technologies should be tried for data processing.