Induced earthquake and the disaster risk have become serious threats to the smooth implementations of newly industrial activities such as unconventional oil and gas extraction and wastewater reinjection. The stress drop,which reflects the average stress difference on the fault before and after the earthquake rupture,is helpful to reveal the source characteristics,high-frequency ground motion characteristics,tectonic setting and seismic risk of induced earthquake. In this study,we systematically summarize the research progress of stress drop that is related to mining-induced earthquake during the past 20 years,referring to the theory and method used in calculation,the estimated average stress drop values,the subjective and objective factors that affect the stress drop,and important scientific issues. We introduce three applicable calculation methods,including direct spectral fitting,the Empirical Green's function(EGF),and spectrum superposition and generalized inversion. We study the average stress drop that is caused by mining-induced earthquake through case investigation,analyze the subjective and objective factors affecting the estimation of stress drop,and summarize four major scientific issues,including the space dependency,focal mechanism type dependency,self-similarity,and depth dependency. We also mention that there is no breakthrough in the reliability of measured stress drop;the main scientific issues are widely disputed;and it has important application potential in newly mining activities. We hope the summary and analysis in this study will provide some scientific references for enterprises,managers and researchers who are engaged in the fields of new energy development,seismic safety supervision and scientific research.