Sr₂CeO₄, with its new unique one dimensional chain structure, can not only be used as a blue fluorescent material, but also serve as a good matrix material. Sr₂CeO₄ was much studied as one of the development direction of light-emitting materials due to its excellent performance, and as a rare earth doped matrix material, hailed as the second generation of long-lasting light-emitting materials. This paper reviews some evaluation indicators of luminescence properties, the mechanism of luminescence and the influencing factors on the luminescence. Synthetic methods of samples such as the combustion method, the high-temperature solid-phase method, the microwave method, the chemical co-precipitation method, and the sol-gel method are discussed with their advantages and the existing problems. Meanwhile, some ideas about solving the problems are put forward. The characterization of the light-emitting materials and the development of rare-earth-doped Sr₂CeO₄ in the context of the future research are also addressed.