Bi 4 Ti 3 O 12 is an important lead-free ferroelectric material. Doping modification of Bi 4 Ti 3 O 12 has attracted great attention to improving its performances. In this work, the effect of Sr dopants on the microstructure, dielectric, and conductivity of Bi 4 Ti 3 O 12 ceramic was investigated by XRD, SEM, and AC impedance spectroscopy. Substitution of 1 at% Sr for Bi decreased the grain size, suppressed the dielectric dispersion of Bi 4 Ti 3 O 12 ceramic at room temperature, and resulted in different effects on the conductivity of grains and grain boundaries. The conductivity of grains in Bi 4 Ti 3 O 12 ceramic was increased by the small amount of Sr dopants in the whole experimental temperature range. While the grain boundaries of 1 at% Sr-doped Bi 4 Ti 3 O 12 exhibited lower conductivity than pure Bi 4 Ti 3 O 12 below ~380 ℃ and higher conductivity above ~380 ℃. The experimental phenomena were interpreted in term of compensating defects for Sr dopants. * Corresponding author. attracted great attention in high-temperature piezoelectric devices [3,4], transducers [5,6], and memory devices [7,8] which are beneficial from their high ferroelectric transition temperature (T c ) and fatigue-free characteristics [9,10]. Bi 4 Ti 3 O 12 (BIT) is a typical 3-layered Aurivillius compound with T c = 675 ℃ [11]. However, high electric leakage limits its extensive application. The substitution of alkali metal, alkaline-earth metal, and rare earth metal ions for Bi is a desirable method to suppress the leakage and tune the physical properties [12]. Several applicable Bi 4 Ti 3 O 12 -based compounds have been developed, such as Na 0.5 Bi 4.5 Ti 4 O 15 [13], SrBi 4 Ti 4 O 15 [14], SrBi 8 Ti 7 O 27 [15], and La 0.75 Bi 3.25 Ti 3 O 12 [16]. Although two Sr-containing BIT compounds were prepared, the effect of small amount of Sr substituting for Bi on the phase stability and properties of the