The statistics and analysis were carried out for research papers on tunnel anchor bolts published in the past 40 years, the research status of tunnel anchor bolts at home and abroad was discussed, and the weak links in the research of tunnel system bolt were revealed. The analysis shows that the research of tunnel anchor bolts mainly focuses on the effect of anchor bolts, the calculation theory of anchor bolt, the design parameters of anchor bolts and the development of new anchor bolts. Some researches indicate that: at the crow on the loess tunnel, the effect of system bolt is not obvious, and nowadays the understanding of domestic engineers and scholars on the effect of tunnel system bolt is still not unified; although many research results on the mechanical model and calculation theory of the full-length bonded anchor bolts can be found, the analytical solution for the axial force of the anchor bolt derived from the Mindlin displacement solution does not take into account the influence of the neutral point; researches on the design and calculation theory in tunnel system bolt are few, and additionally the input parameters of empirical formulas and analytical formulas proposed by some scholars are mostly difficult to obtain, so it is still difficult to apply them to practical tunnel projects. In the design of tunnel system bolt, some researches on the critical anchorage length are available, but research results on the arrangement of tunnel system bolt and their matching with surrounding rock are still absent. As a result, for the design of tunnel system bolt, it is generally to adopt the empirical analogy method. The design method of the tunnel system bolt shall be further explored and the system bolt of new material and new configuration shall be developed in the future.