Further understanding of the cathode oxygen reduction reaction mechanism is one of the most important challenges for the development of solid oxide fuel cells at low and intermediate temperature. Determining the surface reaction kinetics parameters such as the surface exchange coefficient and bulk diffusion coefficient is critical to reveal the cathode process. However, the reported results from different literatures are widely divergent and sometimes the variation can reach as high as over one order of magnitude even for the same cathode material. The various original data make it difficult to judge the reaction property and possibly weaken the reliability of the parameters. In this review paper, the recent progress of the oxygen reduction reaction kinetics parameters is comprehensively summarized for typical cathode material La1−xSrxCo1−yFeyO3−δ regarding the experimental methods and principles. Emphasis is also placed on the main influenced factors which may result in the reported variation. The main purpose of this paper is to provide a summary of recent progress and reveal the possible difference source for the surface reaction kinetics of oxygen reduction reaction. © 2016 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.