ObjectiveTo analyze the retrieval status of master and doctoral dissertations entitled systematic review/meta-analysis (SR/MA) in China. MethodsThe China Dissertation Database was searched for master and doctoral dissertations entitled SR/MA from 1980 to March 2015. Two reviewers independently extracted the basic characteristics of included dissertations, the name of retrieval databases, retrieval strategies and the method of screening literature. Then related data were analysed by Stata 12.0 software. ResultsA total of 1 639 master and doctoral dissertations entitled SR/MA were included for data analysis. Among them, 1 259 (79.5%) retrieved both Chinese databases and English databases, 107 (6.5%) retrieved Chinese databases alone, and the other 237 (14.5%) retrieved English databases alone. 1 137 (69.4%) retrieved two or more Chinese databases, while 1 316 (80.3%) retrieved two or more English databases. The most commonly retrieved Chinese databases were CNKI, VIP, CBM, and WanFang Data; while the most frequently retrieved English databases were PubMed, The Cochrane Library, EMbase and Ovid. 89.9% reported the duration of search time, 73.4% reported manual retrieval, 68.6% reported reference retrieval, 23.3% reported conference retrieval, 23.3% reported using search engine and 26.8% reported contact with experts and authors. 45.8% reported their steps of screening papers, 37.5% provided a flow screening chart, and only 14.9% reported the number of papers from each database. ConclusionThe current study suggests that the retrieved databases of master and doctoral dissertations entitled SR/MA in China are still not enough. We suggest the authors of dissertations on SR/MA retrieve at least 3 common databases, reference, engines, conference paper at the same time, and improve information on search strategy and paper screening methods.