Since the ion cyclotron resonance isotope separation (ICR-IS) method was proposed in 1970s, it has received widespread attention from researchers and industries around the world. Based on the published results on the ICR-IS in the past few decades, a review is presented in this paper including the fundamental theories of ICR-IS, basic structures of the devices, major criteria for obtaining significant isotope separation effects; and in particular, the recent progress in the theoretical and experimental research fields for obtaining different isotopes using the ICR-IS approach is summarized and discussed. And finally, the key scientific and technological issues in future research for promoting industrial applications of the ICR-IS method are discussed briefly.