With the development of clinical research on acupuncture and moxibustion,clinical therapeutic effects must be scientifically evaluated.In clinical randomized trials,controlled methods are significant and nonacupoints beyond meridians are commonly used for sham acupuncture.Research on comparisons of acupoints along meridians and non-acupoints beyond meridians has become an important subject,and some observations showed no difference between the two.The specificity of acupoints plays an important role in clinical and theoretical acupuncture research.If this core component is held in any doubt,the basis of acupuncture and moxibustion will be destabilized.Furthermore,the reasonable selection of non-acupoints beyond meridians determines the efficiency of controlled trials,and the reality and accuracy of experimental results.In an attempt to make progress towards standardizing clinical studies on acupuncture and moxibustion,this paper reviews common methods for selecting non-acupoints beyond meridians used in the past decade.