Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of misoprostol in term labour induction.Data sources Data from published English and Chinese literatures about misoprostol in term labour induction were identified from Medline and CBMdisk (using the search terms "misoprostol" and "labour induction") before 2001; hand searches of reference lists of original studies and reviews (including meta-analyses) and contact with investigators in this field before 2001. Study selection Studies were included if they had data on misoprostol and labour induction. Altogether 623 articles were found and 124 were admitted, including 19 287 cases. Data extraction Data were collected on efficacy and incidence of side-effects of misoprostol and oxytocin. Data were checked for consistency within the published articles and converted into a standard format for incorporation into a central database. Data synthesis The average successful induction rate, rates of caesarean section; incidence of tachysystole, hypertonus of uterus and precipitous labour, and rates of meconium stained amniotic fluid between the misoprostol and oxytocin groups were significantly different (P