Objective: To explore the methods of establishing and evaluating the rat model of liver depression syndrome, and provide a reference for the standardized development of this model.Methods: Computer searches were conducted in databases such as CNKI, Wanfang, and VIP for experimental literature related to the rat model of liver depression syndrome from November 14, 2019, to November 14, 2024. The literature was screened according to the set inclusion and exclusion criteria. Information such as the publication time, animal conditions, related diseases, modeling methods, modeling time, evaluation indicators, and intervention methods in the literature was extracted. Software such as Excel 2021 and IBM SPSS Modeler 18.0 were used for data collation, frequency analysis, association rule analysis, and the results were visually displayed in the form of charts.Results: A total of 188 eligible literatures were finally included. The commonly used rats in the rat model of liver depression syndrome were Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats (75.53%), mostly male (62.77%), and most of them were specific pathogen-free (SPF) grade (82.45%). The related diseases were mainly digestive system diseases (59.39%). Among the syndrome types, the liver depression and spleen deficiency syndrome was the most common (62.96%). The multi-factor method was mostly used for the modeling method (55.03%), and the modeling time was concentrated within 18-21 days. At the same time, potential combinations of macroscopic syndrome evaluation indicators were obtained, and the intervention method was mainly Chinese medicine compound prescriptions (86.42%).Conclusion: The rat model of liver depression syndrome is widely used, but currently there are problems such as non-standard names of syndrome types, lack of unified standards for modeling methods, and imperfect evaluation systems. This study provides ideas and references for the standardization of syndrome types, model optimization, and improvement of the evaluation system of the rat model of liver depression.