It is concluded that oxygen vacancies and Ce3+ ions in the catalyst have prominent role in deciding the performance of M/CeO2 catalysts in Fenton-like oxidation reactions. Besides this, the decisive role of redox potential of the doped metal ions on the efficiency of nanoceria in Fenton-like oxidation has also been examined for the first time in literature. A correlation between redox potential of doped metal ions and the oxidation activity is also established.