Recently, researchers in the road field are focusing on the development of green asphalt materials with lower emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The characterization methodology of asphalt VOCs and the influencing factors on VOCs release have always been the basic issue of asphalt VOCs emission reduction research. Researchers have proposed a variety of asphalt VOCs characterization methodologies, which also have mutually irreplaceable characteristics. Asphalt VOCs volatilization is affected by many factors. In this study, asphalt VOCs characterization methodologies were summarized, including their advantages, disadvantages, characteristics and applicable requirements. Subsequently, the influencing factors of VOCs release, such as asphalt types and environment conditions, are summarized to provide theoretical support for the emission reduction research. The classification and mechanism of newly-development asphalt VOCs emission reduction materials are reviewed. The reduction efficiencies are also compared to select better materials and put forward the improvement objective of new materials and new processes. In addition, the prospects about development of VOCs release mechanism of asphalt materials during the full life cycle and feasibility research of high-efficiency composite emission reduction materials in the future were put forward.@en