Abstract: In order to understand the current status of research on electrically heated tobacco products and provide ideas for researchers related to product development, published research on electrically heated tobacco product, especially the release law of key substances (moisture, glycerin and nicotine)and the heat and mass transfer processes and their numerical simulations were summarized. The conclusions are as follows: 1) Electrically heated tobacco products mainly concerned two heat transfer forms: heat conduction and convective heat transfer. The process of releasing the key aerosol substances was essentially a matter of heat and mass transfer, and some phase changes in the complex physical processes and chemical reactions occurring in the porous media system. 2) Many physical and chemical processes, such as evaporation of water, pyrolysis of carbohydrates and macromolecular substances, occurred during the heating process of tobacco substrate 3) In the operation of an electrically heated tobacco product, moisture was released in a large range of temperature, and the release of glycerol and nicotine were mainly at 150-250 ℃ and 110-220 ℃ respectively. The releases of the key substances correlated to a multiple of factors, such as heating rate, maximum heating temperature, aerosol agent content and moisture content. 4) The existing numerical simulation works could numerically describe the main heat and mass transfer mechanisms and the release of key substances in the electrically heated tobacco products, the cooling and flowing characteristics of the aerosol in the filter section, and also the surface temperature distribution of the heating element.