OBJECTIVE： To investigate the development of drug therapy of rheumatoid arthritis， and to provide reference for the study of this field in China. METHODS： All literatures were retrieved during 2005-2016 using Web of ScienceTM （called “WoS” for short） core collection as database， “Rheumatoid arthritis”“Rheumatoid-arthritis”“Drug therapy” “Medication” as subjects， setting literature type as “Article”“Review”. Bibliometric analysis method was used to list and analyze literatures about drug therapy of rheumatoid arthritis by annual number of articles published， source journals， subjects， agencies， authors and hot issues. RESULTS： A total of 2 528 literatures were retrieved from WoS core collection. The number of literatures showed an overall trend of growth. Those literatures came from more than 800 journals， among which top 10 journals published 689 literatures about drug therapy of rheumatoid arthritis （27.25％）. A total of 18 subjects were involved， and the number of literatures in “Clinical medicine” was the largest， with 1 884 literatures （74.53％）. A total of 3 431 research institutions were involved， and the largest number of literatures were issued by the Harvard University， with 68 literatures in total （2.69％）. A total of 14 325 researchers were involved， and top 10 researchers published 240 literatures about drug therapy of rheumatoid arthritis （9.49％）. The frequency of 25 keywords was greater than or equal to 100 times， that of 12 was greater than or equal to 150 times. “Rheumatoid-arthritis” had the highest frequency （1 740 times）. In basic scientific index （ESI） database， there were 35 literatures with high citation frequency. CONCLUSIONS： With the literatures of rheumatoid arthritis therapy increasing year by year， the focus of research in this field is focused on the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis and clinical efficacy. In China， no institution or author enters the world front rank in this research field. Attention should be paid to the clinical study on drug therapy of rheumatoid arthritis.