Abstract Ecosystem service (ES) is a growing field of research characterized by an increase in publication number. The review was conducted to provide an overview of trends of forest ecosystem services (FES) research and methodological approach to studied FES. Currently, the number of publications on ES was more than 18,000, but small publications were linked with FES. Based on the selection criteria, 41 peer-reviewed publications were screened to analyze the type of FES studied and the method used to quantify ES. The result showed that most of the research articles, to date, had focused largely on provisioning, regulating and cultural ecosystem services, which were timber production, water supply, carbon sequestration, and recreation. FES like a pollination, genetic resources, pest regulation, and aesthetic values have not been studied in any literature reviews. The review result showed that different studies used diverse methodological approaches and had inconsistent and scattered conclusions. From the selected studies, the majority of them were conducted in Europe and Asia. Particularly, the publication number from Ethiopia was very low and needs to conduct studies before the forest resources are further degraded.