The existing routing protocols developed for adhoc networks cannot be used for sensor networks because of the constraints of sensor nodes that they are small, lightweight with limited energy, storage and battery power. Thus a large body of research is being assembled and several new routing protocols have been developed for wireless sensor networks which are unique from the protocols used in other fixed networks. In order to evaluate the performance of any routing protocol, routing metrics are used. But a little attention has been paid by the researchers to the evaluation metrics and design principles for routing protocols that should never be neglected while designing and evaluating routing protocols for wireless sensor networks. This paper depicts some vital evaluation metrics that are essential while designing, developing and evaluating the performance of routing protocols for wireless sensor networks. This research is an effort towards hoarding all the general metrics and guiding the researchers for designing efficient, professional and valuable routing protocols. In this paper we have also complied up the existing performance analyses done so far in the literature for different routing protocols. © EuroJournals Publishing, Inc. 2012.