Abstract: The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 in Wuhan in December, 2019 develops rapidly. Early diagnosis of 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) infection is the key to epidemic prevention and control. Although a positive nucleic acid test result of 2019-nCoV is the "gold standard" for the diagnosis in those suspected patients, its operation is tedious and time-consuming, and the test results are affected by many factors, such as the sample quality, the infection site and expression level of the virus. Therefore, the single nucleic acid test cannot meet the requirements for rapid screening and diagnosis during the epidemic. Serum specific antibody is another key evidence for the diagnosis of virus infection. Antibody detection can be used as an important means to assist nucleic acid diagnosis and rapid screening. This review interpreted the characteristics of antibody production, the methods and sensitivity/specificity of antibody testing, analysis of false negative and false positive problems, and the combination of the nucleic acid test and antibody detection to promote the establishment and application of the technology of 2019-nCoV serum antibody testing.