A wireless sensor network (WSN) is a collection of wirelessly connected multifunction sensor devices (referred to as wireless sensor nodes) in an area that requires sensing. In WSNs, wireless sensor nodes have a short transmission range, and processing capacity, storage, and power supply to the node are also limited. In addition, WSNs often include a significant number of sensor nodes, deployed in a large area to meet the requirements set forth, and communication in WSNs must be through multi-hop communication connections. Therefore, the secure routing protocols (SRPs) in WSNs are responsible for finding and maintaining secure and reliable connection routes and are especially energy-efficient (because the wireless sensor node is limited in terms of the power supply). Therefore, energy-efficient routing, as well as secure communication and data transmission between wireless sensor nodes are fundamental challenges for providing security services in WSNs. Currently, many energy-efficient and SRPs in WSNs have been proposed. In this paper, we synthesize the classification and arrangement of energy-efficient and SRPs in WSNs.