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A novel, highly sensitive and selective fluorescent sensor based on water‐soluble nitrogen‐doped graphene quantum dots (N‐GQDs) coupled with molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) was developed to detect tetracycline (TC). Unique N‐GQDs@MIPs nanomaterials were synthesized via the simple sol‐gel method due to its advantages of saving time and costs. The prepared N‐GQDs were fairly uniform and the fluorescence quantum yield (QY) was up to 58.2%. Results of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) confirmed that the N‐GQDs@MIPs nanomaterial was prepared successfully. The imprinted factor (IF) of the synthesized N‐GQDs@MIPs was 3.42. Under the optimized experimental conditions, the fluorescence intensity and concentration of TC maintained a good linear range. The recovery experiment indicated this method can be applied to detecting TC in animal‐derived food. In summary, the proposed method provided a new and effective way for simple and rapid analysis of specific components in complex matrix samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]