Abstract: Sediment oxygen demand (SOD) accounts for significant oxygen sink in rivers. A few studies of different streams around the world have been conducted. This review introduces the major experiment methods to measure the sediment oxygen demand in non-suspended sediments and suspended sediments. It also discusses the advantages and disadvantages of different methods and their applications. Microbial process， temperature and content of organic matter affect both biological and chemical oxidation, and consequently they influence the SOD. In addition， the particle size of sediment， flow velocity， water depth and water quality are related to SOD. Finally， on the basis of the previous works， further studies on experiment methods of typical waters， dominant influence factors and sediment oxygen demand in rivers are proposed in this study.