Rat is a commonly used experimental animal. The open?field behavior test is one of the most commonly used methods to detect emotional behavior in animals, particularly for rats in recent years. The conditions of the open?field behavior test can cause changes in the physiological and psychological state of rats, affecting the interpretation of rat behavior, and thus affecting the determination of the rat model of diseases. To select suitable experimental conditions and achieve reasonable interpretation of behavior and an appropriate model, this article presents a review of the research literature on the open?field behavior test of rats published in the last 5 years.