In order to adhere more faithfully to the guidance provided by AMSTAR and OQAQ, two assessors (KDY, WY) performed a separate translation and conducted a pilot test independently. Each translator prepared a separate translation and the difficulty in obtaining conceptually equivalent expressions in Chinese was assessed too; subsequently, a sample of 2 systematic reviews on TCM was taken to perform pilot test by two authors independently; based on the results and consensus from reviewers, the final Chinese versions of AMSTAR and OQAQ were then developed for formally evaluating methodological quality of Chinese systematic reviews; all inconsistencies identified either in translation or in application were resolved by discussion. On the basis of this, we constructed a data extraction form in Chinese for this study, in which 11 items of AMSATR and 10 items of OQAQ were adopted directly. In addition, publication status and reporting characteristics of systematic reviews, such as publish language, number of pages, funding source, update or not, Cochrane systematic review or not, target disease, and institution of first author, were also incorporated; besides, the time required to complete an assessment while applying AMSTAR and OQAQ was recorded too.