Considering the substantial potential of agricultural carbon emission reduction and carbon sink increase and possible positive external effects, the issue of agricultural carbon source/sink effect has garnered extensive attention from academia and most sectors of society. Agriculture is a sector with a complex structure, interwoven with natural ecology and socio-economic processes, and with observable regional characteristics. Additionally, there are multiple research perspectives for agricultural carbon source/sink effects, such as internal structure, dual attributes, and regional scale. Most domestic research on agricultural carbon source/sink effect based on internal structure perspective is limited to the planting industry, mainly focusing on a single carbon source or carbon sink; however, systematic, comprehensive research on agricultural internal component refinement and component correlation is noticeably insufficient. As for research based on dual attribute perspective, a natural ecological perspective focuses on carbon absorption and direct carbon emission, whereas a socio-economic perspective focuses on indirect carbon emissions. The comprehensive method needs to be deepened, from separating nature and the economy to integrate dual agricultural carbon source/effect. Research based on regional scale perspectives primarily focuses on large, medium-sized, and sample plot scales, whereas counties' small-scale research is relatively weak. Carbon flow among regions and the carbon emission reduction of agricultural product supply chains should receive increased attention. Small-scale family farms and diversified management associated with planting and breeding are outstanding characteristics of China's agricultural production and management. Accurate assessment of the regional agricultural carbon source/sink effect under the characteristics of small-scale family farms and diversified management associated with planting and breeding is essential to formulate effective agricultural emission reduction strategies and achieve "double carbon" goals, namely carbon dioxide emissions peak and carbon neutrality, as quickly as possible. In the future, research on the agricultural carbon source/sink effect should integrate sample observation, household survey, and statistical data; focus on the analysis of industrial components and agricultural carbon source/sink composition; strengthen comprehensive research on planting and breeding related to the carbon source/sink effect; expand the research perspective and data acquisition method; develop and improve the evaluation model; improve the degree of parameter localization; track the process of interregional carbon flow, including the production, circulation, and consumption of agricultural products; and encompass the entire carbon emission reduction process. This paper reviews the domestic research progress of agricultural carbon source/sink effect based on internal structure, dual attributes, and regional scale, thereby proposing improvements in the research of carbon source/sink effect based on China's agricultural management characteristics.