REDD + research: Reviewing the literature, limitations and ways forward

•This study analyzes articles of various research design methods to determine trends in REDD + research.•The study analyzes REDD + research in the context of the 4Is framework and their associated factors.•The study found that there has been a significant increase in REDD + research over the past nine years.•There are variations in country and regional studies as well as significant gaps in the REDD + literature.•Despite growth in literature on REDD +, some important aspects of REDD + have been ignored and or under researched.

This study analyzes articles of various research design methods such as case studies, survey studies, descriptive studies, exploratory studies, and historical studies, to determine research trends on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD +). The study investigates how REDD + research has evolved over a nine-year period, from 2007 when the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP13) agreed to adopt an international REDD mechanism, until 2015. The study found that even though there has been a significant increase in REDD + research since 2007, there are variations in country and regional studies as well as significant gaps in the REDD + literature. However, there is optimism that promising forthcoming research in the post-Paris Agreement era will cover the existing gaps in REDD + literature.