Abstract: The pulse-like properties of near-fault ground motions are of great importance in earthquake engineering in the recent twenty years. They are closely related to the rupture process and structural damage. The causes of these pulses are briefly summarized, and the baseline correction methods and identification procedures of near-fault pulse-like ground motions are systematically reviewed. Furthermore, a comparison is conducted on the statistical relationship between the earthquake parameters and pulse properties, such as the number of inherent pulses, pulse period and pulse amplitude. The results show that the traditional baseline correction methods cannot effectively recover the earthquake information in the frequency domain, that the existing identification and extraction procedures of inherent pulses mainly focus on the pulses induced by the directivity effect, and that the influence of tectonic conditions and fault types on the statistical analyses of pulse parameters has not been adequately considered. We suggested that more attention should be paid to the time-frequency based baseline correction methods, that the pulses induced by fling-step effect and the impulsive characteristic of vertical components of ground motions should not be overlooked, and that the influence of tectonic conditions and fault types on the near-fault pulse characteristics need further studies.