Abstract: Surgery is a key factor for the long-term survival of patients with pancreatic cancer. Evaluation of the surgical margin is an important criterion for surgical quality control, and influencing factor for prognosis. Not all surgeons have a clear understanding of the definition and standard of margins for pancreatic oncological surgery. The introduction of circumferential margins and "1 mm" principle could help estimating patients prognosis accurately. With the further understanding of pancreatic cancer, a more rigorous and accurate evaluation system for the surgical margin of pancreatic cancer will arise to better guide clinical practice and enable patients to have better survival. The authors review domestic and overseas research progress, investigate definition and criteria for surgical margin of pancreatic cancer.