In wireless sensor networks (WSN), routing is quite challenging area of research where packets are forwarded through multiple nodes to the base station. The packet being sent over the network should be shared in an energy efficient manner. It also considers the residual power of battery to enhance the network life time. Existing energy efficient routing solutions and surveys are presented but still there is a need for Systematic Literature Review (SLR) to identify the valid problems. This paper performs SLR for energy efficiency routing with 172 papers at initial stage. Next, 50 papers are shortlisted after filtration based on quality valuation and selection criteria by ensuring relevance with energy efficiency. Initially, we present literature that includes schemes for threshold sensitive, adaptive periodic threshold sensitive, power efficient, hybrid energy efficient distribution and low energy adaptive mechanisms. Result of systematic review reveals that consumption of energy is the most fundamental issue in WSN however, is not noticed by the researchers and practitioners where as it can contribute for the improvement of the energy efficiency. It also elaborates the weaknesses of the existing approaches which make them inappropriate for energy efficient routing in WSN.