With the rapid development of integrated circuit (IC) technology, the size of devices has been continuously shrinking. While this trend has led to increased integration density, improved device reliability, and reduced costs, it has also resulted in performance degradation of metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) due to the short channel effect (SCE). This paper provides a comprehensive review of the most recent techniques that can mitigate the short channel effect in MOSFETs, with a focus on semiconductor materials and device structures. These techniques include decades-long advancements in doping and high- dielectric materials, as well as emerging structures such as Fin field-effect transistors (FinFETs), Gate-all-around field-effect transistors (GAAFETs), Forksheet field-effect transistors, and complementary field-effect transistors (CFETs). This paper can greatly assist researchers in establishing a theoretical foundation, identifying research problems and voids, and identifying hot spots and trends in short channel effect research through a comprehensive analysis of the existing research literature.