Antibiotics have fundamentally transformed veterinary and human medicine, being considered as one of the greatest scientific discoveries of the 20th Century. However, due to the environmental persistence and resistance, they have become one of the newly recognized pollutants of widespread concern. In this paper, 23 publications related to antibiotic water quality criteria published before December 31, 2023 were collected through systematic search in CNKI, Wanfang and Web of Science databases. On this basis, we outlined the research status of antibiotic water quality criteria, compared the results of criteria derivation and the toxicity data used, and proposed directions and considerations for future research. The main research conclusions are as follows: Regarding the research subjects, a total of 34 antibiotics water quality criteria for freshwater organisms have been derived, while over 80.00% of antibiotics still require further related studies. It is suggested to prioritize azithromycin, clarithromycin, and levofloxacin for subsequent research. Regarding the highest frequency of antibiotic water quality criteria was obtained using the species sensitivity distribution method (SSD method) and the assessment factor method (AF method), accounting for 48.78% and 3333%, respectively. The antibiotic water quality criteria obtained from the SSD method and the toxicity percentage ranking method (TPR method) are relatively close; hence, the SSD method is recommended as a priority. Regarding toxicity data, algae, invertebrates, and fish are the three most commonly used aquatic organisms for antibiotic toxicity testing. However, the frequency of using fish toxicity data in the derivation of short-term water quality criteria (SWQC) is less than that for long-term water quality criteria (LWQC). There is a noticeable shortage of invertebrate toxicity data used in LWQC derivation compared to SWQC derivation. Therefore, it is recommended to strengthen research on the acute toxicity of fish and the chronic toxicity of invertebrates in the derivation of water quality criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]