Coal oxidation at low temperatures is the major heat source responsible for the self-heating and spontaneous combustion of coal. Spontaneous combustion of coal results in safety problems and energy losses. It is one of the most serious disasters in the coal mine production and coal application. The propensity of coal to spontaneous combustion demonstrates the inherent characters of the oxidation capacity at normal temperature. The existing test methods for the propensity of coal to spontaneous combustion has a vital significance for the prevention of the mine fire. Test methods and progress in the study of coal spontaneous combustion tendentiousness are reviewed. The advantages and existing problems of coal spontaneous combustion tendentiousness test methods are pointed out

and their future developments are prospected. The authors point out that

to compensate the deviation that may brought in by the coal spontaneous combustion tendentiousness test using just one method

the adjustment indexes of multiple test methods can be integrated to produce a general index

which should not only reflect the oxidation characteristics of the coal at low temperatures

but also represent the coal spontaneous combustion process.