Short-run control charts are used in situations where limited or no data exist about the process, and conventional statistical process control (SPC) charts are considered ineffective for estimating parameters, such as control limits, because they cannot be established in most cases. This study presents a contemporary review on developing various short-run univariate quality control approaches. Considerable literature is systematically collected on the basis of content analysis. Techniques are differentiated on the basis of repetitive and non-repetitive processes. Subsequently, the principles, data sample collection, performance criteria, robustness and applications of quality control approaches are reviewed. Copyright © 2020 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.